Into the Blinding Light
by Hollowtip
Summary: Lightning, all but broken, finds comfort from an unexpected source.  Her past comes back to shock her.  SPOILERS   Went from an M Rating to a T rating. Mild Language/Sexyness
1. Rock bottom

**Hi. So, spoilers and a possible M rating coming right up, not so sure right now. And a twist on the old classic story :) Enjoy. R&R**

* * *

She sat against a cold wall, the low light in his place making her feel uneasy. She stared absentmindedly at the people scattered in different parts of the room sleeping. _What a day.._Everything she ever believed in had been a lie.

Galenth Dysley revealed himself to be the fal'Cie Barthandelus hours ago, and Lightning still couldn't bring herself to believe it.

Her head fell forward, her eyes landing on the uniform. The Guardian Corps, puppets of the Sanctum. She'd been a direct victim of the lies. All those years she'd spent enforcing their laws... If she'd only known. She unclipped her identity badge and flipped it upright, reading the words _"Sergeant, Farron L."_that were printed below the picture of herself. Memories of this day flooded back to her, she remembered taking this picture even though it was over three years ago.

In the picture, she looked younger, eager and proud. Her eyes were wide, a slight smirk on her lips. Her head held up with perfect posture and she was brimming with confidence. In comparison she'd be unrecognizable now. Even without seeing her reflection she could feel her eyes sagging, her back felt like it was holding a hundred pounds. She slouched against the wall to keep her head from hitting the floor but on that day, she was so proud to be accepted. To be a part of something bigger than herself, something that would make her sister proud. It was a way to protect her and support her, so Lightning thought..

Unfortunately, it took her until today to figure out she'd gotten herself into something that was entirely too big to handle. The biggest betrayal in the history of mankind.

Lightning's hand twitched as the feelings poured through her. The magic running through her veins was something she had not grown used to but at least she recognized when it was happening now. Surprised, she held her palm upright, gasping as she felt the half formed spell erupt in her hand. She hadn't even consciously thought of this one, her emotions alone had brought it on. The flames smoldered the badge she held, first melting away the plastic cover until it retracted into nearly nothing, then the edges of the paper began blackening. The logo of the Guardian Corps, her name, her face... It was all being consumed, erased, turning into ash. Her teeth clamped together as she closed her fist, unable to watch any longer. The fire went out then, and all that was left were stains the ashes left on her gloves. She brushed them away letting her head fall back to rest against the wall behind her.

She sighed, staring at the vast ceiling. A few stray pink locks of hair falling to the side, her piercing blue eyes were wide with panic as her heartbeat rang rhythmically through her eardrums.

_What's next? How are you supposed to know what to do when you don't even know where you are?_

The younger girl that traveled with them, Vanille, had said something about places like this being on Pulse. _The Ark,_ she referred to it as. A place where Pulse could manufacture their war machines, but why would a place like this exist on Cocoon? The idea was ridiculous and Lightning immediately disregarded the girl's opinion. She had lied before in the past about being Pulsian. She _can't_ be trusted.

_Trust.._

Lightning was alone in the world now. Her only blood, her sister Serah, had turned into a crystal before her very eyes. There was no knowing if she'd ever really come back. Even though Snow had said it was possible, Lightning still had her doubts but she wanted to believe. Amongst these strangers she felt no real connection with anyone, apart from the child that had been swept along for the ride. Hope. The awkward boy whose backbone had yet to grow in. He'd been chasing Snow, who's irresponsibility got his mother killed. She identified with the boy, if she were a few years younger she could see herself being that hell bent on revenge, especially if someone messed with Serah. Even though he'd gotten over it, he was still stuck. Still a l'Cie, his future was completely up in the air. If she were in Hope's position she wasn't so sure she would have been able to forgive Snow as easily as he did. She couldn't blame Hope either, she knew Snow was idiot.

Then there was the older 'gentleman', Sazh, who was willing to put a bullet into Serah while she was still alive, for 'the greater good of Cocoon'. In the back of her mind, Lightning would always see him as he was that day. A panicked civilian with no oversight of the big picture and two big guns to help eradicate the problem. People like him, and the uproar over something that he knows absolutely nothing about, were the whole reason the purge started in the first place. So many innocent lives lost and, at this rate, there were many, many more about to die if people would always be so comfortable in their ignorance.

The last, possibly most mysterious person in her party was walking up to her now. Lightning sighed, letting her head fall to the side, away from the approaching figure, knowing full well her unwelcome demeanor wouldn't stop _Fang,_ the other, older Pulsian. Whether it was it was the taller woman's cocky presentation or the fact that she was the direct the reason Serah was branded in the first place, something rubbed Lightning the wrong way about Fang. She couldn't help feeling suspicious whenever she was in Fang's presence, even though the woman never actually did anything wrong to her. She'd actually been rather supportive in telling Lightning more things she should know about being a l'Cie and how the process worked, but the woman's scorched whited out brand didn't sit well with Lightning. Fang, the indirect cause of all of this doesn't get a time limit. Typical.

Fang leaned against the wall beside Lightning, letting herself slide down until she was sitting. Lightning didn't look at her.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Lightning asked, unable to hide the irritation in her voice, or maybe she didn't try very hard.

"Well, I was.." She smiled without humor. "I glanced over here and you appeared to be having a panic attack. When you started lighting stuff on fire I thought it'd be a good time to check in." Fang said, staring at the soldier.

Lightning narrowed her eyes, wondering if it could be the woman's foreign accent that always made her sound like she was amused with something. _The mocking tone.._ She turned at met Fang's gaze and held it with a look of hostility. Fang seemed unperturbed by the expression on Lightning's face, she spoke again.

"Are you alright?" Fang asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm fine." Lightning hissed, looking away, her teeth clenching.

It was hard to look at Fang for long periods of time. Her deep green eyes always felt so intrusive, as if she could actually climb inside of your brain and have a look around if you weren't careful. Lightning didn't like the way Fang looked at her as if she was waiting for Lighting to drop the ball, tell a secret that she would jump on immediately. Just waiting to seize the opportunity and hold it above her head like a trophy, like the scavenger she was. She would wear a piece of Lightning on her just as she wore the skins and teeth of the weaker beasts she'd slain in the past. Lightning refused to be the weaker of the two.

"Always a hard ass, huh?" Fang said, tilting her head, staring down at her own folded arms.

Lightning looked to Fang again, thrown off by the melancholy tone in Fang's voice surprised to see her face matched it. She opened her mouth to say something that took longer to think about.

"I.. It may be the only thing holding me together right now." Lightning admitted, before closing her eyes._ Dammit._

This is why Lightning didn't like talking to Fang. Barriers were broken and she was always left feeling like the needy person. Fang always seemed to know exactly what she was doing, and she always had her head on straight. How could she be so easy to talk to and so damn irritating at the same time? It grated at Lightning's last nerve.

"Heh. Right, you know we're all suffering here? You aren't alone in this." Fang muttered running a hand through her dark hair before clambering to her feet swiftly. "If you need someone to talk to.." She stifled a yawn, but didn't finish her sentence as she walked off slowly. Lightning watched her figure retreating with doubt behind her eyes.

She'd heard Fang's whole plan from the beginning. Get Vanille, finish her focus and get to Pulse as soon as possible. She made no effort to hide anything when they were reunited. Lightning was the only person that didn't look away. It would have been obvious to anyone that there was definitely more there when Vanille and Fang hugged, not that Lightning had any problem with a gay couple by any means, but now Fang had her girlfriend, all she needed to do was finish her focus and Lightning was confident she would leave them without a backward glance.

Lightning shook the image from her head, knowing exactly what she had to look forward to if all this ended well. Her baby sister running off to marry Snow, Sazh would have his son back, Hope would return to his father, Vanille and Fang would have each other and a home world to go back to, and Lightning, would have an empty house.

_Serves me right. If only I'd believed her.._

When Serah needed Lightning the most, she'd shut her little sister out, threatened her even. It hurt her so bad to think about that day. She felt as though she'd never be worth of Serah's forgiveness if she ever saw her again. Her sister, almost identical to her, sharing so many of the same features and so many with her parents. It'd been three years since Lightning's parents died, and not a day had gone by since then that she didn't think about them. She wished they were there right now to guide her. Her dad had held a normal job in Bodhum, average pay but he was so nimble. He taught Lightning to fight at a young age. It was odd for a civilian to be so talented with weaponry on Cocoon because there were so many safeguards set up by the Sanctum that no one often worried about their security. What a joke that ended up being.

Her thoughts went to her mother now. Sweet and so beautiful. She always told Lightning to follow her dreams, but right now Lightning couldn't think of any. Her only dream now was returning to some state of normalcy. The odds were so bad for them, and look what had happened to Serah. On her mother's death bed, Lightning promised, swore to keep her safe. She failed. The thought made her throat constrict. She cleared it roughly, climbing to her feet, irritated that she'd let her own thoughts get so emotional. It was probably _Fang's_ fault.

Knowing there was no way she'd be able to sleep tonight she casually drew her weapon from a holster than hung at the perfect height, attached to the back of her skirt. The folded weapon sprung to life with a slick metal on metal kiss that echoed through the mysterious place. Taking the form of a saber, she gripped it tightly as she started down a long corridor that resembled an intricate sewer system until it reached a very large well lit room where Lightning could see several creatures lurking. She groaned.

_How big can this place be?_

But, in her head she saw this as a blessing in disguise, stress relief in its finest form. With a smirk on her face she ran forward into a group of leeches, her saber flying through the air reflecting the light off of the cool steel, becoming her name.

Fang opened one eye, slightly groggy as she listened to the clanking noise that was heard in the distance. Recognizing it after a few minutes she sat up sighing, nudging Vanille beside her. The girl squealed a protest.

"C'mon. Lightning's gonna get herself killed." Fang said casually, getting to her feet and drawing her lance. Vanille, rubbing her eyes followed closely behind her through the dark corridor.


	2. Bloody Massacre

**R&R My darlings :)**

* * *

"Amazing, isn't she?" Vanille spoke, awestruck.

The two Pulsian woman stood together at the entrance to a large room. An erratic metallic clanking with the occasional gunshot could be heard further down the tunnel now but the evidence left behind from the all out massacre that had occurred here mere moments ago was daunting. Pulsework Knights lay in pieces, some still emitting sparks. Alchemic Ooze puddles and mutilated leech corpses were barely recognizable scattered around the room, their bodily fluids in the form of boot prints that all lead to the tunnel at the other side of the room.

Fang's face was a mixture of fascination and concern and she took all of this in. Not only had Lightning done this in a short time, she'd done it by herself. Fang couldn't help being impressed but could this outburst be a sign that she'd finally cracked due to the days events? Would she be hostile when they found her?

"Incredible." Fang whispered, her eyes on one particular Pulsework that has appeared to have been sheared in half. She'd never thought of Lightning as exceedingly dangerous before but this was such a powerful exhibit that she had to wonder if she'd be underestimating her all along.

"I'm glad shes on our side!" Vanille chirped happily as they started following Lightning's trail of destruction.

Fang smirked as she walked in front vigilantly. It'd be just their luck to have Lightning turn on them in this state. She supposed it was a possibility, the girl was full of surprises. They'd crossed the room and made it halfway through another dark tunnel before they saw her.

An abrupt gust of air left Fang's lungs at the sight of the fully grown Greater Behemoth Lightning was scrapping with. Vanille drew her binding rod and took a few steps forward but Fang gripped her wrist, pulling her back and standing between her and the confrontation protectively. Vanille looked on anxiously from under Fang's arm. Fang's first instinct was also to run in and help but a part of her wanted to see what Lightning would make of the beast by herself.

Whatever she'd done had seriously pissed the feral creature off. It was enraged, flailing its large claws at her with every open opportunity and after a moment of watching, Fang could see why it was so furious. Every time it seemed like Lightning was cornered, she'd escape. She ran full speed at a wall then only to flip off of it, narrowly avoiding a particularly fierce looking swipe, to land on the creatures back. At the same time her saber connected with its shoulder so hard it sparked, illuminating the dark corridor to reveal a maniacal look in her eye.

Fang's eyes were wide watching this. By the looks of it, it hadn't been able to make a single blow connect yet. It was obvious to Fang that Lightning wasn't a normal soldier. No one they'd crossed paths with so far could move so fluidly. It was like a well choreographed dance. _Flamboyant_ was the word Fang used to describe it. Efficiency with unnecessary flare.

The beast howled, pushing its weight onto its back legs as it stood upright. Lightning grunted, throwing an arm around the beasts neck. Her other arm waved her weapon expertly in the air as her saber took on the form of a gun. She pointed it under its chin, swiftly unloading six rounds into its head. In an instant, it fell limply to the ground.

Lightning climbed off the beasts back breathing heavily. She walked around the carcass slowly, checking it for any remaining signs of life. Her posture made her look absolutely exhausted as her eyes met Fang's, then darted to Vanilles face, showing no reaction to their appearance before turning and continuing down the tunnel.

"Wait here." Fang whispered to Vanille before jogging ahead to catch up with Lightning. The soldier didn't break her stride or take any notice of Fang, though her eyes did narrow.

"Hey." Fang said, falling in step with Lightning.

_No response_.

"What are you doing?"

"Clearing a path." Lightning said in a matter-of-fact tone. As if _that_ wasn't obvious..

"Fair enough, let's go wake the others." Fang said, slowing to a stop. Lightning kept walking.

"No need." Lightning said, about to enter into another large room. She stopped to examine what sort of creatures were waiting to be slaughtered.

In one swift movement, Fang gripped both of Lightning's shoulders pulling her back and pushing her almost violently into the nearest wall, holding her there. It wasn't anger that made her treat the girl so roughly but the assumption that anything less wouldn't get _through_ to her.

After the shock wore off of Lightning's face, she shoved back. Once, twice, three times... It was no use she couldn't move Fang. She considered electrocuting her..

"Calm down.." Fang spoke melodically in a very soothing tone. Her eyes were soft but she was more than ready to shift into a defensive position should the need arise.

Lightning's looked at Fang's face incredulously. She took several deep breaths, moving her head away from the source of Fang's voice. She felt slightly uncomfortable with the closeness. No one had ever _dared_ enforce this much authority on her before. They all knew better. But with Fang, who was both taller and stronger than Lightning, she had no other choice than to comply, unless she wanted to actually _hurt_ Fang. Her shoulder's slumped. The fire that had been burning in her for the last several hours had gone out. She realized, only now, just how tired she felt. The fury had left her feeling dizzy.

"No one wants to sit around doing nothing. I'm anxious to get moving again too." Fang continued in the same cool voice. "But if you run off and get yourself hurt its not going to help anything."

Lightning said nothing. Fang just stared at the woman's face. Sensing that the fight had left her, she relinquished the grip on Lightning's shoulders cautiously. Fang folded her arms in front of herself.

"Not that I don't think you can take care of yourself. That was quite an impressive display back there, soldier. But save some for us, we're mad too." Fang smirked.

"Felt good." Lightning laughed once without humor. The ghost of a smile played at Lightning's lips. The woman's disheveled pink hair was covering half of her face. Fang broke her stare when she felt a strange urge to brush it aside knowing _that_ would be pushing her luck.

_Interesting. The girl that has a permanent scowl on her face hides a beautiful smile._

"I bet." Fang muttered, smiling to herself at the irony.

Everyone was still asleep when they returned. Lightning sunk into a corner and fell asleep leaning against a wall, her weapon still drawn. With Vanille asleep at her side, Fang sat awake near the middle of the room watching Lightning sleep. The look on her face during her slumber was fascinating to Fang. Gentle eye lids, her mouth slightly parted, lolled open. _Multifaceted._ Lightning had so many layers, and the more Fang thought about it the more she wanted to uncover them all.

She was surprised to see figures begin to stir around here. She chuckled to herself silently.

_Sleep is over rated, anyway._

* * *

"Light? ...I-Is she okay?"

Lightning felt her eyelids flutter open at the sound of Hope's voice, just in time to see his concerned face flush with relief.

"You never sleep that much." Hope muttered, standing upright and offering his hand which Lightning took. "The other team already left, we've just been waiting for you. She wouldn't let me wake you up."

"Who..?" Lightning used her palms to rub at her eyes before smoothing out her hair. She turned her head and saw Fang leaning against a nearby pillar, a superior smirk on her face.

Lighting blinked a few times. "Oh.."

"Snow picked the teams today.. because you were asleep.." Hope murmured uneasily. He seemed to be intimidated by Fang.

_That seems like an odd choice for Snow to make.._

Lightning narrowed her eyes at Fang, who smiled at her.

"Sleeping beauty rises." Fang snickered.

Lightning sighed, rolling her eyes. "Are you sure these arrangements suit your _girlfriend_?"

Lightning walked ahead with a satisfied grin after seeing the look on Fang's face. Confusion with a mixture of shock, though Lightning couldn't understand what the huge shock would be about. If Fang hadn't made it so obvious in the first place Lightning wouldn't have said anything about it. Regardless, it was nice seeing Fang's eyebrows on top of her forehead instead of the snide sarcastic visage she normally displayed.

"Wow." Hope said after a while, walking along Lightning's right side. "Looks like they cleared a path for us."

"Yeah." Fang smiled widely. "They cleaned house, didn't they?"

There was a small stutter in Lightning's stride. It was nice of Fang to keep her moment of weakness a secret from Hope. He looked up to Lightning and she didn't want to set a bad example.

"Looks like our lucky day." Lightning's lip curled at the corner of her mouth.

As they day progressed, however, Lightning found herself feeling frustrated and uncomfortable. Every time she turned around, Fang's eyes seemed to be on her, as if she were waiting for Lightning to completely lose it again.

_Is that why she's here? An added security measure? Did she tell Snow what happened?_

Fang on the other hand was enjoying herself immensely. Getting to watch Lightning fight again was absolutely brilliant. The way she can go from docile to killer in an instant was so incredible to watch. She moved better today as well after resting. Fang would swear she had the ability to fly. This was totally worth bribing Snow with a Black Belt.

It wasn't long until they caught up to the other team that was resting in a room they'd just cleared. Even though this place seemed never ending it did feel like they gained a lot of ground so far today. Hope was glad to be able to sit down. Fang stood in front of Vanille with a superior smirk on her face.

"Hey, Sis." Snow's baritone sounded.

Lightning, finally coming into the contact with the real reason for her irritation today, stomped off towards him.

"You won't believe this Vanille..." Fang hummed, kneeling down beside her looking overly amused.

"Hmm?"

"Lightning's under the impression that we're dating, apparently." Fang spoke with a lot of effort to keep herself from laughing.

"What?" Vanille screeched, taking on the tone of a large bird.

Fang's laughter erupted.

"Where did she hear that from?" Vanille grabbed the front of Fang's sari and shook her.

"I don't know.." Fang said between her chuckle, her eyes falling upon the soldier across the room.

"I hope.. everyone doesn't _think_ that." Vanille looked appalled.

There was no response.

"Why would she think that..?" Vanille continued.

"Maybe we shouldn't spend so much time together.." Vanille's voice sounded frustrated.

"Fang?" Vanille waved her hand in front of the older woman's face looking perplexed.

"Hmm?" Fang answered, finally moving her head back to face Vanille.

"What's wrong with you?" Vanille's eyes were wide as she looked over in the general direction that Fang was looking.

"Nothin." Fang muttered.

Fang watched Vanille's face. With eyes that big it was easy to watch the inner workings of Vanille's brain. She made the act of thinking look like it was physically painful.

When she finally arrived at her conclusion her eyes went gigantic. Her mouth formed a little "O" And she took a deep intake of air.

"You're interested in-!" Vanille practically screamed before Fang's hand came over her mouth.

"And that's about enough out of you for the day." Fang said with narrowed eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments before she felt safe removing her hand.

"It's true then?" Vanille asked, her own excitement building. "Isn't that kind of dangerous? I mean she kinda seems like the type that would kill her lover after mating..." The smaller girl giggled.

Fang didn't feel like dignifying that with a response. She instead flicked Vanille in the forehead with her index finger and watched the girl's head bobble, struggling for balance. Vanille giggled again and Fang just shook her head, letting her eyes wander back to Lightning. She was surprised when she saw the enraged look on Lightning's face. Apparently her conversation with Snow wasn't going in her favor. She took a step back from the big brute and turned to glare directly at Fang before stomping off on her own.

_Uh-Oh. _He's not _that_ dense is he?

Fang rose to her feet uneasily.

"Where are you going?" Vanille asked.

"I'll be back." Fang sputtered, before setting off at a jog in the direction Lightning exited, another corridor out of the room._ This place all looks the same._ She found the soldier alone, her weapon drawn, pacing back and forth. When she came into view Lightning glared at her again.

"You... _bribed_ Snow?" Lightning hissed dangerously, enunciating every single syllable dramatically.

_Apparently he IS that dense._

"Ah.." Fang said grinning, slightly embarrassed. "He told you, hey?"

"Why?" Lightning asked between her teeth.

Fang's hands came to rest on her hips, she looked down fighting the warmth that flooded her face.

"I.. just like watching you fight." She said honestly.

Lightning's eyes narrowed, scrutinizing Fang's features as if trying to find the _real _reason.

"Yeah, right." Lightning said, turning around and walking further down the tunnel.

Fang followed behind at a safe distance.

"It's true. You're talented. More talented than anyone I've ever seen from Cocoon before.." Fang rubbed at her forehead, staring at the girls back as she spoke.

Lightning stopped, wincing as she felt warmth flood her own face. She was shocked at the fact that she was blushing. She huffed before speaking, her eyes were slits.

"I... well.." Lightning stammered.

_How.. awkward. What do you say to something like that? _

_Say something!_

"...Whatever." Lightning finished anticlimactically.

Fang chuckled because despite her mean exterior, it appeared that Lightning couldn't accept a compliment to save her life.

"Whatever, indeed." Fang smiled. "Oh, there's something else, too.."

Lightning turned her head to the side, listening hard behind her.

"I mean.. you should know.. Vanille _isn't_ my girlfriend." Fang said softly.

Exhaling sharply, Lightning turned around. She stared at Fang incredulously, who smiled back at her sheepishly. They held the gaze for a long while, Lightning was unable to read Fang's expression and it frustrated her. What exactly did Fang have in mind by telling her this? What purpose did it serve? She didn't know what to say, what to ask and she wasn't sure what exactly her suspicions were anymore. This revelation completely threw her off. Lightning opened her mouth the speak when a strong male voice came from behind her.

"Where are the rest of you?"

Lightning turned quickly, gripping her saber as shock crossed her face.

"Raines..?" Lightning asked, mystified.


	3. Straight to Hell

They walked down a well lit path towards the ground level. Lightning in front, flanked by the rest of the Pulse l'Cie. She was deep in thought and it showed on her face.

Cid Raines, brigadier general of the sky fleet. A man with so much power, who demanded so much respect was in fact l'Cie directly enslaved by Barthandelus. She couldn't tell which way was up anymore. Finding out that they were being protected by the Cocoon fal'Cie so they could bring upon the destruction of the entire planet was almost too much. It was one thing after another and fighting Cid made her uneasy, it didn't have to end that way. They'd been on the same side, wanted the same outcome for Cocoon. What he did was so brave, and what he showed them was invaluable.

Even if the whole entire world was against them there was one thing that could never be taken from them. As human beings, each and every one of them was granted freedom of will. Something even the _fal'Cie_ would never have.

Before their very eyes, Cid sacrificed himself. With the last of his life he fought his fate and instead of being changed into the monster they were all cursed to become should they not complete their focus, he turned into crystal. The very thing l'Cie were supposed to be rewarded with upon _completing_ their focus. It gave Lightning a glimmer of hope despite the horrible odds. If he did it, perhaps she would be able to fight her fate as well. As they neared the end of the bridge, she noticed an extra bounce in her step. Whether or not _that_ was caused _entirely_ by the incident with Cid was debatable.

"Look!" Vanille called, running ahead.

"An airship?" Sazh pondered aloud.

"It's from Gran Pulse!" Vanille squeaked.

"See, lady luck is still on our side." Snow grinned.

"Oh really?" Lightning asked sardonically, "What's that then?"

She pointed to a wild looking green aura that was blocking the immediate exit in the air. Snow's face fell flat.

"It's a gateway." Fang smiled. "To Gran Pulse."

"Pulse or bust, huh?" Sazh grumbled.

"But.. Pulse is hell." Hope said with wide eyes.

"Oh is it now? How many times have you been there?" Fang spoke, her eyebrows mildly threatening sitting atop her forehead. Hope seemed to gravitate closer to Lightning.

Lightning sighed. "We don't have any other options. Off to hell we go." She said, walking forward, glancing behind herself at Fang with a smirk on her face. Fang smiled at the soldiers back, allowing everyone else to enter the vessel before she climbed inside.

It was silent in the cabin as they passed through the gateway. After the flashy colors and turbulence the group was treated with their first glimpse of a Pulsian sunset. It was silent for a long moment. Shock went through Lightning's body. Whatever this place was it certainty wasn't the hell that had been described to her her entire life. Vast never ending plains, trees, mountains. Completely natural, wild, untamed. She'd never seen anything like it.

"Home sweet home." Fang muttered "Fire and brimstone, hey kid?" She called over her shoulder to Hope. He just laughed nervously.

Lightning found Fang and Vanille looking out of the opposite window together. Hands to the glass, anxious and barely able to contain their excitement in returning to their home.

"It's beautiful." Vanille crooned.

Lightning silently agreed. Beautiful, but frightening at the same time. There would be no safeguards in place like there was on Cocoon. As Sazh dropped the altitude she could actually see entire packs of creatures running together, following the laws of nature and staying to their own kind. With nothing to interrupt them, this was a world where the food chain was a way of life. She wondered where _her _place on this food chain would be.

"Taking her down rough." Sazh said, slightly frustrated with the Pulsian engineering.

Overshooting his intentional landing area they ended up having to climb out of the ship into a large lake. After they waded to the shore together, Snow put his hands on the back of his head glancing around the immediate area.

"Call it a day, Sis? This doesn't look like a bad place to settle down for the night." He muttered to Lightning, who was trying to shake as much water out of her uniform as she could.

"Yeah. We have to decide what we're doing anyway. I'm gonna have a look around." She drew her weapon and disappeared behind a large rock.

The rest of the day was dedicated to building a suitable camp for them to stay in. Hope gathered supplies for food and fire in the nearby area while Snow and Sazh assembled makeshift beds. Vanille, being half soaked already decided to go swimming in the lake, one of her favorite past times in a much simpler time. Fang sat on a rock at the shore watching her, though her mind was miles away.

_The expression on Lightning's face earlier was priceless.._

A large glob of water hit her face and Fang was pulled out of her daydream. She glanced down to see Vanille in the water smirking up at her. Fang's eyes narrowed.

"So, are you going to tell her?" Vanille asked, treading water.

"_That_ sounds like a suicide mission." Fang mumbled.

"Fannnnnnnng." Vanille whined. "We might not have much time left you know! There's no time for regrets! If you don't say anything you may never know.. she might like you too!"

Fang stared at Vanille. She _was_ right but Fang's body was paralyzed at the idea.

"Worst case scenario: She hits you. You can handle that." Vanille continued, seeing a small fish below her, she dove under water chasing it for a few yards before coming up for air.

"She looks like she's in a good mood today too." Vanille sputtered, wiping the water out of her eyes and gazing up at the rock only to find it empty. She spun on the spot. Not seeing Fang anywhere, she smiled to herself and resumed her pursuit of the fish.

Fang's feet felt like lead weights as she traced Lightning's footsteps. Her breathing slightly staggered, she fought in her mind for the smoothest possible way to approach this. Her nerves usually weren't a factor for anything but in approaching someone so fierce, so intimidating it almost made her knees give out. Fang stopped and pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes.

_Calm, cool, collected. Be yourself. Turn on the charm.._

Her feet began moving again and she rounded the large rock coming to a full stop. Lightning hadn't made it far. Her saber holstered, she had one hand petting the long feathery neck of a fully grown stray chocobo. There was a soft expression on her face and the creature leaned into her touch. Fang's jaw gave out. She'd never seen Lightning wearing such a tender face. Did the soldier have a soft spot for chocobos? She took a deep breath before approaching the soldier, speaking before Lightning would notice her.

"Beautiful.." Fang murmured, realizing she was probably speaking more of Lightning than the creature.

Lightning turned abruptly, mild surprise on her face at Fang's advance. "Oh.." she breathed. "Yeah.. she is gorgeous.." She turned her attention back to the chocobo, petting the back of her neck.

Fang smiled up at the enormous chocobo. "That's a good girl.." She spoke softly, reaching up a hand to pet her, running from the side of its face to the back of its neck where her fingertips brushed against Lightning's hand. Lightning and Fang both stiffened at the contact, Fang immediately withdrawing her hand and looking away.

_Real smooth.._

Fang chanced a glance at Lightning, finding her in a similar position. No longer petting the creature and looking away, underneath the hair covering her face a faint pink glow could been in her cheeks. Fang's eyes grew at the awkward expression.

"So.. what do you think of Gran Pulse..?" Fang asked.

Lightning met Fang's eyes before speaking. "It's nothing like I thought it would-"

Lightning was interrupted when the chocobo leaned its head in to nuzzle the side of her neck with its beak, causing her to grin widely. Fang, having never seen a full blown smile on Lightning's face before, found herself momentarily dazed. Their eyes met once more, the intensity of the gaze made Lightning's smile falter. Realizing now just how close Fang was standing to her, she shrunk away slightly.

"She likes you.." Fang said softly.

There was an uncomfortable pause.

"I should go check on the others." Lightning muttered before taking a last look at the chocobo and turning to leave.

Without thinking Fang gripped Lightning's wrist, stopping the woman in her path. She couldn't just let the opportunity walk away.. The only problem was she didn't know what to do next. Lightning stood locked in place knowing full well she could get away if she wanted to, but her body wouldn't allow the movement to happen. She stood staring at the ground, her eyes wide not knowing what to expect as she felt Fang's breath caress her face causing the little hairs on the back of her neck to stand upright.

Fang's kiss landed softly on her cheek and lingered there. She held her face close and sighed softly against the soldiers face, allowing the grip on the woman's wrist to slacken ever so slightly, Lightning's body swayed, feeling the heat of Fang's body so close. Her breath, her lips, it was too much.

She made her escape then. Wide eyed and feeling dizzy, she returned to the camp at a hasty pace unable to believe she'd just allowed that to happen. Her heart was beating so fast it made a faint ringing sound in her ears. She entered the camp with the intent of exiting immediately out the other side only to be stopped by Vanille along the way. She'd just emerged sopping wet from the lake and she grabbed Lightning's wrist just the same way Fang did. Lightning felt her muscles coil.

"Have you seen Fang?" The small girl asked with a kind smile on her face.

"Oh I saw her alright." Lightning growled before pulling her wrist free and proceeding through the trees on the other side of the camp. Vanille watched her, her mouth hanging open slightly before she glanced the other way to see Fang returning to the camp slowly. She said nothing as she let her body flop down upside down onto one of the makeshift beds, her hands over her head.

Vanille stood over her, obviously not worried about dripping onto Fang. Fang glared up at her.

"So... how did it go?" Vanille asked. Fang stared at her, wondering how Vanille couldn't deduce the answer for herself.

"I'm an idiot." Fang muttered.

"Did she hit you? Is that why you're holding your head?" Vanille asked before sitting on Fang's lap.

"You wonder why people think we're dating..?" Fang spat, looking at the way Vanille was sitting on her.

"Oh, right!" Vanille giggled before sliding off to sit beside Fang, leaving a massive wet spot on Fang's crotch. "Did she?"

Fang glared down at herself.

_Lovely._

"No, she didn't hit me. She didn't do anything, she just walked away." Fang spoke between her teeth. _A kiss on the cheek. How... remedial._

"That's a good sign then!" Vanille chirped, staring at Fang who rolled her eyes. It was hard to get a word out of the older Pulsian for the rest of the night. Fang was busy cursing herself. The sun had long disappeared behind the overbearing mountains that surrounded the camp, and Lightning did not return. In one fleeting moment Fang felt she ruined any chance she had with the soldier. Reckless, it was. She should have spent a whole lot more time planning her approach first, but how does one find their way into Lightning's heart when its so well fortified?

After eating everyone pretty much went to bed feeling rather exhausted, both physically and mentally. Fang sat up alone again, staring at the fire, keeping it burning bright in case their leader was to return. How would she ever be able to look at Lightning again? That was so embarrassing, but her skin was so soft.. Her scent, the feel of her hair, that one genuine heart stopping smile... It was all Fang could think about.

In the trees that framed the campsite Lightning stood, leaning against one. Her body was tired but her head was still spinning. Of course of all people to still be awake Fang would be waiting there for her return. She wasn't ready to show herself again yet. She had to sort out all these crazy feelings she was having. It was as if her brain and her heart were at war with one another. How could anyone think about dating opportunities when her sister was a crystal and impending doom threatened them all?

A small gasp escaped her lips when she realized she was one of the guilty party. Where did all these.. _feelings_ come from? Lightning had always been weary of Fang's presence but was it more than a simple defense mechanism? Truth be told, Lightning had no other experience to compare it with.

Sighing, she closed her eyes. Her mind wandered back to day's events impartially. Playing it through her head, Lightning had to admit to herself that Fang kissing her was NOT, in fact, an act of terrorism. It wasn't bad at all, it actually felt.. kind of nice.. Coupled with the way Fang looked at her beforehand and the shock that ran through her at just the feeling of Fang's hand brushing her own, Lightning felt her heart rate pick up similarly to earlier at the mere memories..

"No.." She said out loud.

Inside the camp Fang's head turned abruptly, looking around as if she could swear she could hear something.

Lightning frowned, disappearing deeper into the trees. This would simply not do. The inappropriate timing of these feelings meant they simply had to go and as a soldier Lightning considered herself well adept at displacing feelings.

She sat against a tree, leaning her head back against it to gaze at the moon.

_Suppress it. Remember why you're here.._

The spot on Lightning's cheek where Fang's kiss had landed still burned in protest.

* * *

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	4. Humanity

It was such an odd feeling staring at her old home from this perspective, Cocoon looked so small from here. The large crack in it's shell was facing her. Eden could actually been seen even from Pulse. Compared to the vast, seemingly never ending plains of Pulse, the roughly manufactured 'paradise' of Cocoon seemed so fake. Lightning wouldn't mind living here under better circumstances. Everything she saw was natural, real.. It wasn't constructed by a fal'Cie to give the impression of nature. It'd been this way for centuries. All the drama and conflict on Cocoon seemed as far away as her home world looked now, she would find no PSICOM _here_ to tangle with.

While she was enjoying her surroundings she knew she was nowhere closer to knowing where they were supposed to go, how they were going to get back to Cocoon. She'd thought about this earlier, knowing the Pulsians would know the area better and possible key points of interest. The teams would be splitting them up, taking one each and between the two Lightning would prefer being with Fang, despite the recent developments. At least, that was the easy way to explain her reasoning in selecting Fang.

The campsite was alive with movement. Figures waking and getting any form of breakfast they could get, knowing there was probably a long day ahead of them. Lightning walked into the campsite for the first time since yesterday to discuss the day's assignments with Snow. She glanced around the camp, finding Hope sitting on a rock nearby and Fang nowhere to be found. She sighed.

"Where's Fang?" She asked to no one in particular.

"Went to freshen up." Vanille chirped, a presumptuous grin on her face. Her arm came up at an odd angle to point, "Thatta way!"

Lightning glared at the girl uneasily before following her directions through a patch of trees.

_Fang wouldn't.. tell people what happened, right?_

That's all they needed was a wild rumor running throughout them about a wild love affair amidst their adventure. Vanille was one thing but if Snow ever came up to her trying to give her dating advice, she'd break his nose. Simple as that.

Walking into a clearing, she came to an abrupt halt. Fang, whose back was to her, was in the process of wrapping a large piece of blue cloth around her waist. She was not wearing a top. Lightning struggled to pull her eyes away from Fang's even olive skin tone before she turned around. Composing herself, he spoke over her shoulder, firmly, professionally.

"We're leaving."

Fang froze at the sound of her leader's voice. Hastily she pulled her black tank top over her head.

"Uhh.. Okay tell Snow I'll be a minute." Fang's voice was higher than normal.

Lightning sighed, pausing to fold her arms.

"You aren't going with Snow today." Lightning said.

"Oh.." Fang stopped. A smile came to her lips. "I'll.. just be a moment."

"Right." She could swear she heard Lightning breath before she heard the soldier's footsteps retreating.

Fang happily finished wrapping the top part of her sari around her upper torso and rustled her hair she walked back. So Lightning picked _her_ today, what did that mean? Perhaps all wasn't lost after all.

Upon returning to the camp there was a discussion on where to go. Many people looked frustrated when Vanille came to the conclusion that there weren't a whole lot of places to look for answers in Pulse, that there was a chance Oerba would be a dead end. Had they come all this way for nothing? To be stuck here until their time ran out?

"Oerba's a long way off.." Fang muttered, "We won't even get through the Archylte Steppe today. If we make it to Oerba and find nothing to help us there's a good chance we won't have time to go anywhere else.."

"You sure nowhere else jumps out at you?" Sazh asked Vanille grimly. It was hard to put so much trust in someone. Right now the Pulsians could be deciding their very fate.

"Yep." Vanille breathed, Fang nodded in agreement.

"Right. We go to Oerba." Lightning muttered.

_Oerba.._

Fang never thought she'd see her hometown again. On many occasions, it ran through her head what would be left of it and if she actually wanted to see it again or if she'd rather just have the memories of what it was before. It looks like she didn't really have a choice now, though if Vanille was ready she wanted to be there for her. Fang and Vanille agreed on a location to meet before the sun went down before the teams separated.

Exploring the vast Steppe was something Fang had been looking forward to. It seemed that even after five hundred years at least this _one_ place remained the same. Same creatures, same land marks and lakes. Greener and more beautiful than ever. It even smelled the same. Her splendid mood didn't keep her from noticing how reserved and quiet Lightning was today. Fang had technically taken the lead with her enthusiasm. Lightning did nothing to object.

Before they actually came into any contact with anything, Fang would tell them everything and more than they would ever need to know about each different beast they fought. Hope found the tidbits interesting but Lightning remained silent. Even her fighting was underwhelming, bored, withdrawn. Feeling as though she might be stepping on Lightning's toes, she sank back and let her lead without a word.

It was an uneventful day all around. Fang considered most of the kills she'd gotten today to be cheating now that she had l'Cie powers. She preferred the natural way of hunting. As the sun began to set she found her good mood was fading away. It was like Lightning was contagious. Hope probably hadn't spoken a word in hours. Fang just followed behind, her eyes trained on the back of Lightning's head.

"We're close to the cave." Fang mumbled after they slayed a small pack of goblins.

"Good." Lightning breathed, kneeling down to check the vitals on the closest goblin. Fang winced at her tone, it sounded lifeless. She stared at Lightning kneeling down, her shoulders slumping. It was even better when she was violent and out of control. At least she _looked_ motivated to some point. This was just depressing.

As Lightning went to stand up her hair shifted exposing the back of her neck somewhat. Fang caught a glimpse of a few lines of black ink. A tattoo? This puzzled Fang, Lightning didn't seem like the type of girl to go out and get herself tattooed. She suddenly found herself curious as to what it was, but didn't know how to ask delicately, or whether or not Lighting was in the mood to field such questions.. She pondered that as they approached the cave.

They stopped at the entrance, Hope looked like he wanted to say something to Lightning but he was waiting for Fang to leave. Fang was waiting for Hope to leave. Lightning folded her arms.

"Aren't you coming in?" Hope asked.

"I'll be in later." Lightning said.

He paused, opening his mouth to say something. Nothing came out. He nervously looked at Fang before turning.

"I'll talk to you later then." He said, sounding defeated before he entered the cave.

Lightning paused before she started walking away. Fang followed behind her thoughtfully. They'd gone a fair distance from the cave before Fang spoke.

"So.. whats wrong with you?" Fang asked in a polite tone. Lightning rounded on her immediately, stopping Fang in her tracks. They met eyes and Lightning's face fell. She advanced so quickly towards Fang that the Pulsian flinched, thinking she was going to get hit.

But the blow never came.

She found Lightning's arms wrapped around her waist with a crushing grip. The woman's head rested on her shoulder, her breathing was frantic, her body was shaking..

Fang was utterly stupefied. There was a pause while she willed herself to believe that this could actually be happening before Lightning started speaking.

"Th-This is it, isn't it? If we don't find anything in Oerba it's game over and Serah.. " Lightnings voice hitched, shaking out of its frenzied whisper now and then, "She's all alone, its my fault... Fang, I failed her. I.. I was going to take her on vacation, we would've been miles from that damn vestige, she wouldn't have been made a l'Cie.." Lightning picked her head up, desperately trying to catch her breath. She could feel the years of emotional detachment training failing her. Right now she felt like a civilian.

"Shhhhh..." Fang's arms came around her then, pulling her closer. "We aren't going to worry about that until we get there, alright? Fighting our fate, right? If we give in now, you'll never know what could happen.." Fang murmured calmly.

"We're flying blind." Lightning whispered, "We aren't even on Cocoon anymore."

"Maybe.. there's a reason we're here. I mean, look at the thousands of circumstances that brought the six of us together. If any _one thing _had been different... You really think the stars would have lined up perfectly for us to just fail here after coming so far?"

_God, Fang's voice is soothing._

Lightning said nothing, gaining control of her breathing.

"There's so much I should have done differently." Lightning said faintly, pulling away and moving her hair out of her eyes.

Fang half smiled as some familiar words came back to her. "We're on a timer you know.. If we _are _going to end up Cie'th I'm going to do everything I can from now until then. We'll give it a hundred and twenty percent and see what happens. It's the best we can do, right? We've got to live every moment without regrets while we still can."

"No regrets.." Lightning echoed.

After standing awkwardly close to each other in silence for entirely too long Fang motioned towards the cave.

"I'm.. gonna grab something to eat, you coming? You must be starvin'."

"I'm gonna stay out here tonight." Lightning said, "Hope's going to want an explanation and I haven't thought of one yet.."

"Ah.. well. I can bring you something?" Fang asked, perhaps a bit _too _hopefully.

Lightning's lip curled. "Yeah, that would be great."

Fang nodded before turning for the cave, finally able to expose her gigantic smile in the few steps to the entrance This was easily by far the most baffling turn of events that has occurred since their adventure began.

_She's human after all.._

Fang composed her face before entering the cave, taking great care not to meet the gaze of the one person she knew would be looking for her. If Vanille knew what was going on she'd probably throw a party. She answered the various greetings with a hand and a half smile. Sazh was manning the fire and cooking tonight. There was no way of knowing exactly what type of meat it was they were eating but it had probably only died a few hours ago.

It smelled good. Fang was ravenous.

"Could I get two please..?" Fang's eyes went to Sazh's face but she was distracted by Vanille behind him. If it had been any quieter in the cave Fang was convinced she would have _heard_ Vanille's jaw hit the floor. Fang's teeth came together, she shook her head infinitesimally. _She could be so damn obvious._

"Is she okay?" Hope asked.

"Yeah why wouldn't she be?" Fang said, trying to communicate something with her eyes as she looked at Hope. The last thing Lightning would want is for people to think there's something wrong with her.

"Oh." Hope said, sighing.

"Here you are little lady." Sazh said, handing Fang two large hunks of meat still attached to the bone.

"Thanks." Fang said grinning, turning immediately for the exit. Upon returning to Lightning, she sat beside her and handed her one of the servings. A leg, she would guess.

"Thank you." Lightning said softly.

Fang bit into her portion, seemingly pleased with the taste and apparently more hungry than Lightning.

"So.. tell me about yourself." Lightning said conversationally. Fang swallowed.

"Hm where should I start?" Fang smirked, wiping her mouth.

"How about the beginning?" Lightning asked, setting her portion of meat down on top of her leather holster.

"Well. I was orphaned. I wasn't given away, my parents both died, well... Not died. They failed their focus. I was about eight when dad.. went." Fang said matter-of-factly. "It was a pretty common thing back then. The Pulse fal'Cie churned out l'Cie like it was going out of style. So, I grew up in an orphanage. I met a very quirky five year old named Vanille."

"And your name is really _Fang_?" Lightning asked smirking.

Fang nodded, "Oerba Yun Fang. It means, Fang from the Yun clan. There were several different clans in Oerba, though everyone was pretty much considered family. Just had to do with hunting."

"Interesting." Lightning breathed.

Fang smirked. "And at that point, she became my family. From there I learned to hunt and survive on my own. And then I decided I wanted to become a l'Cie, to get revenge.."

"You _wanted_ to be a l'Cie?" Lightning asked, her mouth hanging open.

Fang looked down, "It was a different back then..This was during the war and.. I just wanted to protect my village, and Vanille and anyone else who would be effected by it.. It was terrible.." Fang's eyes narrowed, "But.. she tagged along. She didn't want to be left alone, she was worried about me and Anima branded her too. It's my fault she got cursed, so.. I've dedicated my life to saving her." Fang cringed as she finished speaking. Lightning was just glad to have the madness and fanaticism explained.

"I didn't think we'd be marked to destroy Cocoon.."

"I'm sorry.." Was all Lightning could come up with.

There was a pause.

"Your turn. From the beginning." Fang smiled.

"It's.. not nearly as interesting. I grew up in Bodham. My Father was a merchant. By the time I graduated high school both of my parents had died. My dad first. My mom, from the same thing a year later. But they were never able to figure out what they were actually sick with." Lightnings eye's were in another world, "So I became Serah's mother and father, as well her sister. I joined the guardian Corps to help support her and.. You know the rest.."

"You know, it's only fair, I told you _my_ name.." Fang jabbed.

Lightning laughed. "Maybe I'll tell you one day.. When we're all free."

Fang stared at her. Her eyes were twinkling in the moonlight.

_Goodness she looks stunning tonight_.

Lightning with a relaxed demeanor was so different. She went from panic attack to ease, laughing and smiling in what seemed like no time. She seemed like a normal girl but accompanied with the others Lightning was the biggest threat to Cocoon in over five hundred years. Beautiful _and_ dangerous, such a killer combination.

Fang wished she wasn't so damn tired though. Even one of those uncomfortable camp beds sounded tempting right now. She rose and chucked the meatless bone into the woods a good distance away.

"I'm gonna call it a night.." Fang muttered.

"Alright. Sleep well, Fang." Lightning looked up at her. They shared a smile before Fang turned for the cave. Fang ran a hand through her wild hair, feeling extremely pleased with how this night had gone when she felt another hand take her wrist.

"Fang..?" Lightning asked, on her feet now.

Fang froze, glancing back at Lightning, who's face was soft.

"You missed." Lightning whispered.

Fang cocked her head to one side, "Sorry?"

"Yesterday.." Lightning said, before taking a step forward and leaning into Fang's face, her kiss landing on Fang's cheek. Fang smiled, letting her eyes close, wanting to take this feeling in to remember it forever.

Her eyes remained closed as she felt Lightning pull away, a silent laugh escaping the soldier, the warm breath crashing against Fang's face. It was then that Fang felt a hand on her face, turning her head. Lightning's lips brushed uncertainly against her own before she felt them come together. She felt as though the warmth from Lightning's lips was burning an inferno through her blood stream, accelerating her heart rate, making her head spin.. It was a sweet exchange and Fang smiled against Lightning's trembling lips that moved softly against hers.

When she pulled away, she could see Lightning's pink cheeks and slightly embarrassed smile. It made her realize that she wanted this to progress as slowly as it possibly could. She wanted to see every different angle to Lightning's personality come out one by one. It would give her a better understanding of the truth behind those piercing blue eyes.

That, and something in Lightning's feeble approach gave Fang the impression that this might have been Lightning's first kiss..

"Wow.." Fang whispered, grinning despite herself.

Lightning was speechless. Astonished with her own daring, she only smiled wider, turning redder still. Somehow, during that exchange Fang's arms had wrapped their way around Lightning's body and she didn't find it intrusive, but comfortable.

Their faces were still very close to one another, noses almost touching. Fang slowly reached a hand up to brush the hair out of Lightning's face when their eyes met.

As she did this, Lightning's new mantra came to mind immediately.

"No regrets.." Lightning whispered.

"None." Fang smiled.


	5. Sparked Curiosity

Fang opened her eyes to find herself in an amazing mood the next morning. So amazing in fact, that she took it upon herself to wake everyone else in the cave up personally with a big smile. Vanille, last, with some tickling fingers and a bout of the giggles. Amongst them, there wasn't a whole lot of morning people that were particularly pleased with her at this.

She walked out of the cave and extended her arms wide into the sky yawning, taking in the bright sun and smiling up at it. The sun felt different here. Cleaner, warmer, real. She never realized how much she missed Gran Pulse until this morning. It was moments like this, the beautiful nature that surrounded her now, that brought back so many incredible memories from her childhood. The wilderness felt so alive, and she could see packs of beasts in the distance going about their morning routines.

She let her eyes wander until they landed on the sleeping figure just a few yards away on her right. She grinned to herself.

_Maybe this is why Gran Pulse seems more beautiful._

She knelt down beside the slumbering Lightning, in the exact position Fang would of predicted her in. Leaning against a rock, her weapon drawn, her mouth hanging open. It was so damn cute. Fang took it all in, smiling to herself, feeling as if she was finally getting a better understanding of the soldier. Her eyes fell to the gunblade hanging loosely just out of Lightning's grasp. Curiosity getting the better of her, Fang picked it up. Nobody used anything like this in Oerba, it seemed excessive and confusing, and it was a lot heavier than Fang would have thought. She stood upright, fiddling with it in an attempt to make it take it's saber form when she heard a small voice.

"So you _are_ trying to kill me."

Fang's eyes met Lighting's face, which was a mixture of sleepiness and a sarcastic smile. Fang's heart skipped a beat.

"Yes. But this space age contraption defeats me." Fang chuckled.

"Well.. Sorry. Opportunity's gone now." Lighting said with the same sardonic tone, standing and brushing some dirt off of her uniform and pushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Damn." Fang said smiling. "I'll have to try again tomorrow.." She pulled a lever on the gun that made the saber's blade fly out at top speed and lock into place perhaps a little close to Fang's face for her liking. Lightning laughed at the surprised look on Fang's face and reached around her to steal the lance off of her back.

"So.. are we trading today?" Lightning asked with a smirk.

"What? Weapons?" Fang sputtered, looking confused.

"Yeah, why not?" Lightning grinned, looking at the Pulsian letters on the blade of Fang's lance.

"Wouldn't that render us a bit useless?"

Lightning spun the lance between her hands a few times before gripping it tightly. She appeared to be admiring it. "I know how to use a lance, Fang." Lightning smirked.

"Ah, of course. Always the well trained soldier, aren't we?"

"They didn't teach me in the Corps." Lightning said, throwing the lance back to Fang vertically. "Dad had one, he taught me when I was little."

"Interesting.." Fang muttered, handing the saber back to Lightning and watching her fold it effortlessly until it was compact enough to slide into her holster. Fang felt stupid, it had taken her at least five minutes to make the damn thing pop out.

Lighting turned for the cave to see if the others were ready.

"Oh.." She stopped. "Fang? If you want a better shot at killing me then maybe you shouldn't let me out of your sight at night. I'm a light sleeper." Lightning smirked to herself before entering the cave.

A triumphant grin spread across Fang's face.

That _sounded like an offer..._

* * *

The group traveled as one today through the Mah'habara Subterra, due to Vanille's fear of dark places. She wanted Fang nearby and Fang knew this was coming. It was the only practical way to get Oerba, through the springs by way of Atomos, hopefully. Lightning, Vanille, Fang and Hope took the rear as Sazh and Snow lead a bit ahead. It was cold, dimly lit and damp inside. It looked like no one had taken this path in centuries, and yet, the Pulsework still stood waiting for them.

"So, how come you're in such a good mood today, Fang?" Vanille asked, skipping alongside her.

"Just.. happy to be home I guess." Fang muttered.

"Uh huh.." The girl said all knowingly, glancing over at Lightning, who glared at her. She giggled nervously.

"So.. Fang.." Hope started. The way he talked it looked like he was about to say something that he'd been waiting to for a long time. "You were.. Ragnarok huh? And you broke Cocoon's shell?"

"Yep." Fang said, not looking at him. She was slightly irritated knowing that talking about this would bug Vanille, who had fallen silent.

"What was that like..?" He asked. It was as if he had no tact.

"Don't remember." She grunted. He fell silent for a moment.

"How.. do you do it? I mean we all have the same focus right? Shouldn't that mean that we all could do it now?"

"Legend states the l'Cie has to have Pulsian blood. Who knows for sure though. And you just.. will the transformation to happen."

"Oh.. Do you think if you transformed it'd make some of the battles easier? Or maybe you could take us back to Cocoon.."

Fang shook her head. "I wouldn't have my mind. I'd probably kill you all first.

Hope sighed, irritated that Fang didn't want to talk about Ragnarok. It effected all of them, it definitely had something to do with their focus and she had all the answers. Lightning patted his shoulder before he sped up to Snow's group.

"Didn't have to be so mean, it wasn't _really_ a bad idea.." Lightning murmured..

"Kind of a sensitive topic you know..?" Fang sighed apologetically.

"I know.." Lightning half smiled and began walking closer to Fang.

In the darkness of the abandoned mines Fang felt Lightning's hand brush against her own. She glanced at Vanille out of the corner of her eye who didn't seem to notice, so she grasped Lightning's hand. They shared a smile. It was hard to find privacy when you were traveling with four other people all the time. What she wouldn't give for just one day with her alone without the beast of overbearing doom rearing over their heads. She'd be able to learn so much about the soldier. Lightning seemed so complex that it would take a few lifetimes to know everything there is to know.. The overbearing affection for her threatened to burst Fang's blood vessels.. For now, this would have to suffice.

Ahead the boys stopped, observing a large spherical object that Lightning couldn't place. She slid her hand out of Fang's.

"What is that?" She whispered.

"That, my dear, is our ride to our next destination. Luckily for us he's stopped already. We'd better hurry and get on." Fang said with a grin. Luck did appear to be on their side.

"_He_?" Lightning asked, following behind Fang as she lead the others onto structure.

"This is the fal'Cie Atomos." Fang smirked. "Slave to these caves, actually he created them. He can't do anything but blaze trails in here. He's harmless."

Lightning laughed. "Riding a fal'Cie to our next destination.. How ironic."

It was the most disturbing, loud, uncomfortable, bumpy form of transportation that Lightning had ever taken. She'd be perfectly fine not riding Atomos again, but the ride had definitely been worth it. When the dizziness wore off she looked up to see the night sky through cracks in the ceiling, It felt like she was in the middle of a complicated network of caves connected together. Some were completely covered and some had no shelter at all, but it was so beautiful it took her breath away.

"Let's rest here.." Snow said slightly dumbfounded.

"Good idea." Lightning muttered, walking into the nearest cave only to lose her breath again.

Waterfalls, everywhere. Flowers and plants of the most vibrant colors decorated the stunning and completely natural outcroppings of rock that sprouted out of the walls and around the entire cave. It was well lit despite the night and as it turned out it was the flowers doing the illuminating. A natural light source. Fang walked in behind everyone else, folding her arms and leaning against the wall to watch Lightning marvel. It was so green in here that Lightning's wide eyes really stood out, she looked marvelous.

"Wow.." Hope whispered.

They all gravitated to the middle of the area taking a seat one by one. Fang stayed put and watched Lightning, expecting her to take off on her own any moment. She didn't disappoint.

"I'm gonna look around." Lightning mumbled to the others, her eyes were trained and still wide on her surroundings. Fang smirked to herself watching Lightning jump to one of the surrounding higher platforms in the cave.

Lightning gasped, it was even brighter up here. The flowers were plentiful, the plants casting their light reflected off of a nearby waterfall that made shapes dance on the walls around her. She slipped out of her gloves and approached it, letting the cool water run through her fingertips. It was soothing against her calloused hands. She heard footsteps behind her, and smiled to herself. Fang came into her peripheral vision, casually holding her hand out under Lightning's to catch the water that escaped her.

"I'm here to plan a murder." Fang said, grinning down at Lightning. Such a charming smile Fang had, the way her eyes crinkled made a tiny mole stand out underneath her right eye. Something Lightning hadn't noticed before. The way the light refracted through the water and danced on Fang's olive skin was slightly hypnotizing. Lightning just stared at her saying nothing.

"You alright?" Fang asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah." Lightning said, shaking her head softly. "Hi." Pulling her hand from the waterfall she let her arms drape around Fang's neck.

"Miss me?" Fang smirked, whispering into Lightning's ear.

"I did, and I was with you all day. Isn't that weird?"

"Nah." Fang chuckled.

Lightning smiled, taking Fang's hand and leading her to a small patch of grass like plants near the other side of the platform.

"This place is incredible." Lightning said enthusiastically.

"Thought you might like it." Fang grinned as she sat down. She was surprised when Lightning came to rest on her lap, her legs dangling off sideways, her arms around her neck. "Affectionate tonight, are we?"

Lightning smiled softly. "It's just nice to have a moment alone..."

"Away from the others you mean?" Fang started.

Lightning nodded.. "I just feel guilty, you know? My sister's a crystal and here I am.. having the time of my life with a Pulsian.. It doesn't seem right. I could see it pissing some people off if we walked around holding hands."

"Oh its a race thing huh?" Fang asked, her eyebrows high on her head with sarcasm.

"Ah.. I didn't mean it like that.." Lightning said.

"I know.." Fang smiled, indulging herself in running a hand through Lightning's hair. The soldier let her head drop to Fang's shoulder and they sat there like that for a long moment holding each other.

"Fang?"

"Mmm?"

"What's it like.. being a crystal..?" Lightning spoke softly.

"Don't remember it. I guess it's like going to sleep." Fang murmured.

"Oh. That doesn't sound too bad.." She let her eyes close, a million thoughts running through her head. What would Serah think? She'd always bugged Lightning about letting someone get close to her. It's strange that with so little time left she would choose to comply. And with Fang, the woman who would be her natural enemy, but the alternative right now would be to become mentally unstable. She couldn't afford to become unmotivated. She was at her mother's bedside when she died. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to go through that alone. Without someone to hold onto. _Dying alone._ Strange how the thought of that had never bugged her before when she faced the dangers the Guardian Corps had brought to her. What was so different now? If Lightning failed, her kind would be extinct. Her entire family wiped out. It felt like she was alone, because for the first time she truly was.

Maybe that's where she made the connection. Sure, she had Vanille, but apart from that every single other person from her entire world.. it appeared.. had been murdered. Enslaved. Fang's people had been raped by the fal'Cie into nonexistence. And even in the face of watching all of that happen around her, she _wanted_ to sacrifice her life to try and make it better, even if she was mislead. Five hundred years before Lightning had even been born someone was working to stop the very thing that may end her life now. _So brave_.. And even now that all was perhaps lost.. Fang still fought on. With her clan annihilated, it didn't stop her. Being in Fang's presence made her want to push harder where her body had already told her to give up. So much admiration was brimming over for the Pulsian.

"Hey, come back." Fang shook Lightning gently after feeling the soldiers heart rate increase. _Thinking herself into a frenzy again.._ "Everything's going to be fine.." Fang continued, rubbing Lightning's back.

"Are you going to stay with me tonight?" Lightning slid off of Fang's lap to sit next to her.

"If you want me to." The tribal woman smiled widely. A blindingly vibrant smile that rendered Lightning speechless, she only smiled coyly. She laid down with her back to Fang, feeling the woman's arms come around her front after a second. Fang's content breathing at the back of her neck.

"Light..?" Fang asked, remembering something.

"Yes?"

"What's this thing you got on your neck..?" Fang slid a hand through Lightning's arms, to move the hair aside that blocked the view of the back of Lightning's neck, but Lightning's hand covered it before she could.

"It's.. Nothing." Lightning said sounding flustered. "My.. father had me tattooed at a young age. Something to do with our lineage. Some sort of crest but as I grew.. It just looks awful now. Just take my word for it." Lightning said, rolling over in Fang's arms.

Fang raised an eyebrow as their eye's met. Lightning sighed.

"Really.. It looks terrible, just a bunch of random lines. Please drop it..?" Lightning said looking embarrassed. Fang just stared at her smiling. Taking in what 'embarrassed' looked like on her face for the first time.

"You're fascinating, you know that..? Out of this world." Fang said, grinning wider as 'embarrassment' grew more prominent on Lighting's features.

Lightning pulled Fang closer and leaned in, tilting her head and letting her lips connect to Fang's. They kissed so deeply. When their lips parted a gasp escaped them both as if they were fighting over oxygen. It felt as though an electric current was running through Lightning as Fang's arms completely enclosed her. Her fingertips tracing lines on Lightning's spine through her uniform. When the soldier finally pulled away she could feel how flushed her face must look, hastily she hid it in the crook of Fang's neck and listened to her equally rough breathing.

As the composed themselves, Lightning felt her eyelids getting heavier at the steady rhythm of Fang's breathing. She counted every time Fang inhaled silently in her head, wondering morbidly how many more time _she_ would be able to breath.

* * *

**D'awwwwwww. Review :)**


	6. Akin

_She ran through Oerba barefoot. Obvious she wasn't at her full height, she must have been younger. The village was alive with people. Selling their supplies and crops. Everything was right where it should be. The corner market, the school, the orphanage. The foliage, the flowers.. The smell.. The air.._

_Home. She was finally home. Her smile stung her eyes, but she kept looking for her. She had to be here somewhere. This wouldn't be complete without Lightning. Fang ran through the roads becoming frantic. Why is she hiding? All Fang wanted was to show her how beautiful things were here. What it was like to live through a day in her life. A simple yet beautiful life. They could escape it all together in Oerba. _

_Fang stopped to look completely around herself. A woman was stopped in the middle of the road staring at her. A completely unremarkable woman, she was older. A blank face, dull eyes. They stared at each other as the world around them kept moving. She held no interest for her physically but Fang found she couldn't look away from her. People began bumping into Fang, she was holding up the flow of the traffic in the village. A faint smile came to the woman's lips. An all knowing smile that looked haunting and slightly frightening. Fang narrowed her eyes as the woman slowly moved her hand up to her own stomach._

Fang gasped as her eyes shot open, her body jolting before she could take in her _real_ surroundings, the caves of the Sullyya Springs.

"I'm sorry.." A whisper came from next to her. Fang looked next to her to find Lightning leaning on her elbow, her hand was tracing lines of Fang's uncovered stomach. "I didn't mean to wake you.."

Lightning's hair was everywhere. She looked as though she must not have been awake for long either. The pink strands were pointing in every direction. It looked sloppy, but coupled with the expression on Lightning's face and the movement of her hand, Fang couldn't help finding it extremely sexy.

"No.." Fang cleared her throat. "I'm kind of glad you did. Weird dream." Fang rubbed at her eyes, letting her head land on the ground again, she looked up at the rocky ceiling trying to decipher it all.

Lightning pulled on the shoulder of Fang's sari, "I drooled on you.."

Fang looked over to see the wet spot incredulously. "You drool?"

"No.. It must be your fault." Lightning smiled biting her lip.

Fang stared at her. Lightning was being _awfully _flirtatious this morning. She glanced down at hand still moving on her stomach and then up to Lighting pointedly, with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Lightning asked, unable to keep herself from laughing. The familiar pinkness in her cheeks made an appearance.

"Fine." Fang chuckled along with her, "Fair's fair." She slid her hand under Lightning's jacket. At the bottom it was partially opened, she began running her hands across Lighting's flat stomach eliciting a small uncharacteristic giggle. Lighting shrunk away from the intrusion but appeared to be enjoying it all the same. Fang's fingers landed on something hard near her Lightning's navel. She sat up perplexed and pulled the jacket up to see what it was. Her eyes went wide.

"Tattoos _and_ piercings, huh?"

Lightning rolled her eyes sitting up too, finally removing her hand from Fang's stomach.

"What else are you hiding?" Fang grinned, her eyes following Lightning's face as the soldier got to her feet.

Lightning laughed once without volume, "Guess that's up to you to find out." She turned for the waterfall without looking at Fang. This was all so new to her. Feeling flustered and overwhelmed by how impressive someones body was, someones touch... To be fair, it wasn't just _anyone_, but the unfamiliar feelings confused Lightning. She wanted to act on them, but at the same time, it didn't feel right yet. Would it ever? Would there ever be enough time for it, without feeling guilty?

Something stopped her in her tracks, pulling her backwards. Fang had gotten grip of Lightning's cape, pulling her back far enough until she wrap her arms around the soldier and lock her into place. Standing behind Lightning, Fang was in complete control. The soldier resisted Fang's arms, trying to pull herself free, just to see if she could.

Lightning slumped back against her, admitting defeat but at the same time being impressed with Fang's strength, "Well, now what?"

"Looks like you're stuck." Fang growled against her neck.

"Fang.." Lightning breathed, squirming against the vibrations from Fang's voice. Fang's body felt incredible against her own.. She pulled herself away Fang's arms, her head falling forward with the effort. Fang, for the first time, was exposed to Lightning's unobstructed tattoo. Her arms dropped making Lightning stumble forward.

"Well that was nice." Lightning chuckled, turning to find Fang with a blank expression. "What?"

"Nothing." Fang muttered, composing her face, She took a few steps forward to kiss Lightning on the head before turning for the camp. "Gonna go check on the others while you get ready."

"Okay." Lightning said, watching Fang exit hastily. _What was that about?_

_How?_

Fang repeated the question in her head as the came upon the sleeping figures. She stood over Vanille, stooping to pick her up and take her further along the cave where they'd be able to talk. Vanille could sleep through anything. She lay the girl's limp body down gently on the ground and knelt beside her, shaking her shoulder.

"Mm.." the smaller girl moaned. Her bright green eyes coming open reluctantly. She stared up at Fang as a small smile came to her lips.

"Fang..." Vanille said sleepily, yawning softly before scrutinizing the look on Fang's face. "What's wrong..? She didn't hurt you did she?"

Fang just shook her head.

"What is it then?" Vanille sat up, touching Fang's face.

"You have to help me.." Fang looked bewildered.

"Whatever you need..." Vanille whispered.

Fang pulled her hair aside, turning the back of her head to Vanille. "You've seen this right? You know what it means..?"

"Yes, of course.." Vanille said

"Light.. has the same one.. On _her_ neck too.." Fang breathed.

Vanille blinked at Fang, cocking her head to one side. "Well, that's impossible."

"I saw it." Fang growled, letting herself lay back on the hard cold floor, her eyes closing. Did this mean everything Lightning had even told her had been a lie all along?

"Did you ask her?" Vanille asked, scooting closer to Fang.

"Her dad said it was a family crest." Fang muttered.

"Well, you know _that's _not what it is. Not really.." Vanille stood up, holding a hand out to Fang. "We'll figure it out. Maybe it means something different on Cocoon.." But Fang knew that wasn't a possibility.

After pulling Fang to her feet with much effort, she put her arms around the older woman. During this, Lightning came in to the tunnel. It took the Pulsians a moment to realize she was there, she just stood there watching looking slightly scandalized at the embrace they were sharing. Fang and Vanille broke apart to stare at her, mildly awestruck.

"Let's go." Lightning said uncomfortably. She didn't like the way she was being stared at today.

"Me too?" Vanille asked, surprised that Lightning would want her in her group for once.

"Sure." Lightning grumbled, striding ahead.

* * *

Irritated, grumpy, uneasy. Lightning was in a horrible mood today as they climbed Taejin's tower. The sounds of whispering voices echoed throughout the hollow structure gave the entire place an eerie feel. Lightning could make the words out perfectly, but for some reason Fang felt the need to translate for everyone. Whenever Lightning tried to catch Fang's eye, the Pulsian wouldn't look at her. It was as if she was avoiding her, like the last few days had meant nothing. Lightning was hurt and confused so, naturally, she took it out on her enemies fiercely. Stealing a kill from Fang whenever she could, turning it almost into a competition. The Pulsework barely stood a chance.

They climbed the tower hastily knowing the destination was just around the corner. The cie'th towards the top that they came in contact to was an ominous sign of things to come. Is this what the population of Pulse had turned into? Lightning didn't care. All she was saw was red today anyway, a target. Something to take her growing aggression out on. Fang hadn't said a single word directly to her the entire day.

_What could I have possibly done wrong?_

Thinking back the only thing Lightning could remember doing differently today was being slightly playful with her. Was she being too forward? Had the woman lost respect for her? Regardless, she wanted answers. As they made it to the top of the tower the wind blew hard through her hair. The sunlight was bright and Fang stared directly towards the other side of the tower.

"We'll be able to see Oerba over there.." The Pulsian muttered. Vanille slipped her hand into Fang's as they started for the other side of the tower to take a glimpse at their long lost home together. Lightning didn't move, watching them walk ahead holding hands enraged her. Her fists clenched as she took three long strides to slam a hand onto Fang's shoulder roughly, pulling her back to face her.

"What's your problem!" The soldier shouted at Fang. Vanille shrunk back and Fang dropped her head, not looking at Lightning's face.

"Look at me!" Lightning hissed, shoving at Fang's shoulder. "What did I do wrong?"

Fang folded her arms and met Lightning's eyes suspiciously. "Why did you lie to me?" She sounded slightly hurt.

Lightning mouth actually dropped open at this. "I've never _lied_ to you!"

Fang sighed, looking away. "Light, I saw the tattoo. Drop the act."

"Act?" Lightning looked furious, stamping in front of Fang's changed vision. "This is about that stupid tattoo?"

Fang cocked her head to one side gauging Lightning's face. Could it be possible that Lightning didn't know? The Pulsian sighed again, running her hands through her hair, gathering it and pulling it to one side before turning her back to Lightning. She heard the sharp gasp behind her, followed by a loud sound of unintelligible frustration. Lightning pushed Fang around violently to face her again.

"Is this some kind of a sick joke?" Lightning seethed.

"Nope." Fang answered, her eyes growing wider at the surprise on Lightning's face. _She.. really doesn't know. How could that be?_

"Are you trying to tell me _we're related_?" Lightning's voice shot through three octaves. Fang rolled her eyes.

"Not like _that_, we aren't. Not blood. That's not a_ family_ crest Lightning.. It's not really a crest at all." Fang murmured. Lightning stumbled backwards one step. "You really don't know?" Fang whispered.

Lightning shook her head, but her eyes were dangerous, as if she was _daring_ Fang to tell her.

"It means you were made on Gran Pulse, Light. From the Yun, just like I am.."

There was a few beats that passed as they stared at each other. Lightning was shaking her head slowly, her eyes were mad, running the idea through her mind.

"That's a lie." Lightning whispered.

"It's not." Fang said softly. She was ready and caught the wild fist the Lightning threw at her. Frankly, Fang couldn't blame her. It was a huge bomb to drop on someone. She could feel Lightning's fist shake against her palm, and she took a step back into a defensive position knowing it wasn't over yet.

Lightning growled, the magic flowed through her without direct intent to do so. The electricity generated in her fist caught Fang off guard, making her entire body go rigid, her knees failed her, leaving Lightning with the perfect opportunity to get a clean open shot on her face. As her fist connected, Fang fell onto her back with a huff. Lightning wasted no time in straddling her lap and gripping her Sari, and pulling her up until they were face to face, centimeters apart.

"Light.." Fang breathed.

"I was born on Cocoon." Lightning hissed. "My parents are from Cocoon. My sister, is from Cocoon. There are pictures of me in Bodhum as an infant. Explain that! You have no proof! How... dare you!"

"Lightning, stop!" Vanille squealed behind her.

"Stay back, Vanille." Fang growled.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Lightning's face fell, her eyebrows pulled together. "Don't you think I have enough on my mind right now..?" She was practically pleading, begging for this to just go away. This isn't how things with Fang were supposed to go. The woman had become her lifeline, her grip on reality, on humanity. Who would she go to now that Fang had apparently lost the plot. After everything.. after how much Lightning had opened up to her. This was the ultimate betrayal.

"I'll prove it." Fang muttered. "I just need time. Help me figure this out, Light."

"Go to hell." Lightning whimpered, feeling like she was losing her only friend.

At that moment, the three of them were enveloped in a large shadow for just a moment. Over Lightning's shoulder, Fang could see the large ornate tail fly through the sky, circling back for them. Easily the most dangerous fal'Cie on Pulse, _Dahaka_.

Fang sat up. Lightning's eyes were already on the beast. Wild eyes, enraged.

_Shit._

"You want a piece of me too?" Lightning yelled up at it and Dahaka transformed in front of them. Taking a much wider form than it was when it was flying. She drew her weapon, taking a few steps towards it.

"Light.. be careful." Fang warned, knowing what he was capable of. Lightning stood alone in front of him. As Fang stood, it was as if she could see what was happening in slow motion. Dahaka was preparing to launch Lightning into the air with its tail, Lighting stood there focused and ready but completely vulnerable. At top speed, Fang ran and positioned herself in front of Lightning.

"Get out of the way!" Lightning growled, but it was as if Fang had gotten there just in time.

The fal'Cie moved with so much speed Lightning wasn't sure what had happened until she looked up and saw Fang's broken body falling back towards the ground. An abrupt gust of air left her lungs just from the shock of it. Fang hadn't even made a sound. Lightning ran towards the direction Fang was going to land, but she'd hesitated too long. She was unable to catch Fang, and he loud sound of her body colliding to the hard surface echoed throughout the hollow tower below them.

"Fang!" Lightning called, falling to her knees besides the Pulsian. There was no response. "Fang!" Lightning shook her, the cool green aura leaving her palms as she tried to revive her. The sound of the elevator coming to the stop sounded behind her. Over her shoulder she saw that Snow, Sazh and Hope had finally caught up.

Assessing the situation, Snow called to Lightning, "We've got this sis, take cover!"

All the anger Lightning had felt moments ago had faded at the thought of losing Fang forever. Vanille had come over and helped Lighting carry the limp body to somewhere safe. Lightning propped Fang's head up into her lap and sat there in a catatonic state, repeating the same spell over and over with no effect.

"Fang.. I'll do anything. Please come back to me..."


	7. Éclair

**Ah thank you all so much for the kind reviews :) Loves them. Trying to keep the ball rolling here, had a lot of work lately. Let me know what you think about where I'm taking this :P**

* * *

Fang had once described Oerba as a beautiful paradise with a wide array of flowers and trees. A calm village alongside a lake where _everyone_ was family. Divided into separate tribes, though everyone lived together harmoniously. Honing their skills to become mighty warriors, and fight the good fight against the vipers upstairs. _Always_ fighting for their lives..

The mere thought of that had frightened the people of Cocoon into a stupor since the war. Fear of something that didn't even exist. All this time and there wasn't even a single person left on Pulse. There was no war being manufactured, all that was left of the people were the cie'th that roamed the place that they had once called home. They'd probably been here for centuries now... Lightning wondered horrifically if Fang had _known _any of them.

It was haunting to be in the place where it all began, to know that her ignorance was a direct cause of this place being annihilated. Seeing first hand the devastation that could be caused by man putting their entire faith into a false god was more frightening than ever. These people were not barbarians, they weren't the worthless pieces of trash Lightning had been told they were. People like Vanille? Despite the way she grated at Lightning's nerves, she was just a normal girl, a young minded one at that. Innocent. The tears she shed at the site of her home in a destroyed state were genuine, human emotions. When it came down to it, they were all human. It didn't matter where they came from. To be manipulated into a war with a bunch of of innocent people was embarrassing. _And I just went along with it blindly, as a good slave would.._

_Fang.. __What if she was right? What if part of the remorse I'm feeling is mourning for my home too? For my parent's home? Could it even be possible?_

Lightning wasn't sure it would even make a difference at this point. In the day they'd spent waiting for the injured to heal enough to continue, she had found nothing of immediate interest in Oerba. Thus, her spirit had dropped tremendously. It didn't help that Fang hadn't woken up yet. Lightning missed her despite her conflicted feelings for her at the moment. She was still angry about the wild accusations about her past, right now, all she wanted to do was be able to talk to her. Was she going soft?

As her forehead hit the cool glass, Lighting knew the fight had left her. The last twenty-four hours leaving her so emotionally drained, she found it difficult to keep her head upright. The moon outside was gigantic; It looked like it sat cradled on the mountains in the hills silhouetting the village. Lightning could see the cie'th from here wandering the empty roads. Her fingers moved slowly, unhooking the buckles around her jacket. She slid out of it, setting it on a chair beside her, before she let her hands wander to her skirt, unzipping it and stepping out of it. She had an overbearing curiosity to know exactly how cold it was outside, she pushed the window open and felt the cool night air crash against her through her thin, black shorts and turtleneck. Her eyes closed, morbidly wondering what it was like to be a monster, knowing that she could have been staring at her very fate.

"Light.." The voice was hoarse.

Lightning's head shot around. She took a deep breath as though she hadn't been breathing at all for the last few hours, before stumbling to the side of Fang's bed, falling to her knees. Color was returning to her face.

"Did we win?" Fang asked, wearing a lazy smile.

"That was a very _stupid_ thing to do." Lightning's eyes narrowed, but the action didn't hide the overbearing relief behind them

Fang's smile widened, she let her head fall to the side towards Lightning staring into her eyes blissfully. "Nah. Better me, than you." She went to extend her arm to touch Lightning's face but winced from the soreness, her muscles seemed extra tight. It was a side effect of all the curing spells.

"Are you in pain?" Lightning asked, standing upright. "Where does it hurt?"

Fang put her hand to the side of her bare stomach, surprised to find it bare. She glanced to her side to see her sari on the chair underneath Lightning's uniform, she was left wearing only her tank top and shorts. A smirk came to her face. "You didn't have to wait til I got knocked out to undress me, ya know. You were going to take advantage of me weren't you?" Her eyes fell to Lightning's body.

"Ha. Caught me in the act." Lightning said dryly, leaning over Fang to press a palm to her side. The cure spell that surged from her fingertips gleamed faintly, causing a green glow to immerse everything in the room. Fang leaned her nose into the side of Lightning's face smiling from the soothing current that ran through her wound.

"You were worried about me." Fang stated.

"Of _course_ I was.." Lightning whispered.

"But you're still mad at me, so you don't know how to act." Fang said as if she were reading Lightning like a book.

The soldier stood upright, turning her back on Fang as she folded her arms. She didn't want to give away the confirmation in her face. She heard movement behind her. With much effort, Fang was trying to scoot over in the bed. As Lightning turned, Fang pulled aside the covers and patted the spot beside her.

"Not enough time to be angry, Light.." Fang said, a soft expression on her face.

_How right she is.._

Lightning's head dropped before she slid onto the mattress beside Fang. Immediately, the tribal woman cradled her, pulling her head into her neck. Warmth, comfort, relief. Lightning closed her eyes, exhaling slowly against Fang's neck. Where would she be without _this_?

"How bad is it?" Fang asked, rubbing Lighting's back.

"Hmm?" Lightning grunted, muffled against Fang's neck.

"I know where we are.." Fang murmured. Lightning was dreading this, knowing this would probably hurt Fang more than anything else on their journey thus far.

"It's.. not good, Fang. It's not like you told me it'd be.."

"Can't say I didn't expect it to be in ruins.." Fang frowned. "Wish you coulda seen it in it's prime. Or remember it at least.."

Lightning rolled onto her back, frowning slightly. "You aren't going to let that go are you.."

"Nope.. Are you going to hit me again?" Fang smirked sideways at Lightning.

"No.. I'm sorry.." Lightning muttered.

"I know you just want it to go away. I understand how hard it must be to hear but there's no denying where you came from. It's.. clear as day. It's Pulsian characters, Light.."

Lightning winced, knowing the Pulsian alphabet had been all but extinct since the war. She rolled onto her side, facing away from Fang, "What _exactly _does it say..?"

Fang pushed Lightning's hair aside, glancing at it. "Same as mine, mostly.. Three lines of text on top of each other.. 'Made in Gran Pulse' 'Pride of my parents' 'Oerba Yun.." Fang paused..

Lightning rolled over, "Oerba Yun _what_?" she asked fervently.

Fang cocked her head to one side, her eyes going soft. "Is your name.. Éclair?"

Lightning's face went blank. _fal'Cie... No. But that's _damn _close. Oerba Yun __Éclair.. _She could hardly wrap her head around it. She paused.

"... Claire." Lightning corrected.

Fang's eyes went wide, she let her head fall back against the pillow. "Maybe.. they altered it after the move, so it didn't sound so foreign."

"What does it matter, Fang?" Lightning said, slumping her shoulders.

"Don't you want to know where you came from?" Fang asked, trailing a hand into Lightning's hair.

"It's pretty much confirmed.." Lightning sighed. "There's no denying how close that name is to mine. And no one here could have told you what my name is because no one knows.."

Fang smiled, "Now we find out how ya got to Cocoon. And why."

"There's no time, Fang.." Lightning complained.

"Have we found a way to Cocoon yet?" Fang asked.

"No.. There's nothing here."

"Sound's like we've got time then." Fang said with a smirk that fell when she saw the defeated look on Lightning's face.

"C'mere." Fang held out an arm, Lightning scooted into her grasp. "We'll find a way back, don't worry about it. Something has to come for us. Think about it, Barthandelus _needs_ us, right?"

Lightning said nothing, just grasping the zipper to her turtle neck, pulling the zipper down halfway and pushing it aside, revealing her brand once again to Fang. The red eye in the middle glowed, three quarters of the way open.

"There's still time.." Fang whispered. "I won't let anything happen to you, Light. We'll have a look around tomorrow, just get some rest. You can't give up yet. Not while we can still fight it, love."

Lightning felt as though her body was melting against Fang's. She let her hands wander over Fang's skin, exploring the contour of her muscles. The warmth and steadiness of Fang's pulse was soothing. No one had ever made her feel this way before. Fang was almost like a shield. If Lightning was close enough to her, she felt protected against everything. This unspoken connection she felt, could it really have something to do with her uncertain lineage? _Éclair.. Pride of my parents_.. Lightning would never be able to describe how incredible it felt to hear those words.

* * *

"So.. You think they were on the vestige with us?" Fang asked Vanille. The three girls walked along the empty roads, entering every building they passed to look for clues. After the initial shock of the state of Oerba had worn off for Fang, she insisted on including Vanille in their discussions of Lightning's parents.

"I've never heard of anyone traveling to Cocoon any other way. Maybe they were crystals with us and got released before we awoke." Vanille speculated. "They could have conceived Lightning after they made a regular life for themselves."

"The tattoo says 'made'. That means born on Gran Pulse." Fang said.

"What does '_made_' mean..?" Lightning asked uneasily.

"We always said 'made'.." Vanille started, "Because children were a gift from nature. And the nature we were surrounded with in turn gave each child a gift in strength and character. It made us stronger than people made on Cocoon. Any human can give birth, but if you were born on Gran Pulse it was said you would be _made_ stronger because of your surroundings."

"The tattoos themselves were a way we we could show our enemy who we were. If we got captured or killed they would see that the Yun tribe stood together, united. And naturally, that we had an advantage." Fang finished.

"How could I have been an infant l'Cie? I would have never been able to complete my focus at that age. And they couldn't have done it for me because they would've had no idea what my focus was." Lightning rolled her eyes. "If i was old enough I'm certain I would have remembered."

"Maybe he just gave you the tattoo because he and your mother had the Pulsian blood." Fang said. "Maybe they wanted a way for you to figure it out later."

Lightning shook her head. "Serah never got a tattoo.. She would have the same blood."

"Hmm, tricky." Fang muttered as they all walked up the stairs of a three story structure. All of these dwellings fascinated Lighting. They were all still furnished and comfortable looking as if someone had just moved out yesterday. Beds, kitchens, plants, pictures, everything you would normally see in a house, even in Cocoon, but it was so simplified. Everything appeared to be hand carved out of wood, fashioned by human hands.

"Oh!" Vanille shouted. "Bhakti!"

Lightning turned in time to see a tiny robot roll up to Vanille, the girl knelt down beside it. It looked like it was made of the simplest form of technology. Something that would have been obsolete even five hundred years ago.

"I was worried about you!" Vanille crooned to the thing. _What the hell is that thing supposed to be, a pet?_

"He's pretty damaged.." Fang said standing behind Vanille. She glanced at Lightning to see the soldier's confused visage.

"He's sort of like Vanille's little pet, but he holds a lot of information that could help us. Shame he's damaged.."

"Information?" Lightning asked.

"He's sort of like a record keeper." Fang said, "He'd probably still have some old journal entries from us." A smile came to Fang's lips. "And.. you know how I told you the Pulse fa'Cie made more l'Cie than they knew how to do with. Well, we had kept a database of everyone that was branded, so their families could keep track of them."

"That's exactly what we're looking for." Lightning muttered.

Vanille picked the robot up. It emitted a weird beeping noise that strangely sounded like protest, "I'm gonna take him to Sazh and see if he can fix him!"

Lightning stared after Vanille in disbelief as the girl ran away. How could _anyone_ be so squeaky on a day to day basis?

"She's sweet." Fang said, her eyes still on Lightning. "You wouldn't know it just by looking at her but she's in just as much turmoil as everyone else." Fang sat on the bed. "Guess we play the waiting game now."

"Snow's still injured." Lightning muttered. She crossed the room to open the window, letting the air blow in. She loved the way it felt here.

Fang leaned back on her palms, her eyes running over Lightning's body. The way the air blew through her hair was stunning. It looked like Lightning belonged here in Oerba. She would have fit in perfectly with the natural grace she possessed.

"You're so beautiful." Fang breathed.

The soldier turned at the window, her eyes locking with Fang's. How much _time_ was left? Even if they found a way to Cocoon, would they even have the time to steal a look at each other at that point? She could have lost Fang once already, there was no way that she would let that happen again. _The time is now._ Lightning crossed the room to the front door, sliding the old fashioned lock closed. She froze then, not sure what to do next.

"Light..?" Fang stood up.

"Please.." Lightning whispered, unable to look Fang in the face. As she walked slowly to stand in front of Fang, she unhooked the holster that was bound to the back of her skirt, letting it fall to the floor. Her hands landed on Fang's hips, willing her gently down onto the bed before straddling her lap. Their lips met roughly before their bodies crashed against the mattress.

_Serah.. forgive me.._


	8. Miracle

Lightning couldn't even force her eyes open if she wanted to. She was right about one thing, though. The instant that Fang got a piece of her, she wore her like a trophy. She just hadn't anticipated it would be her entire body that Fang would wear. Right now, it was like they were fused together. The vice like grip Fang had on Lightning bonded them. She was unable to move, not that she wanted to. Holding her tight from behind, Fang had her head over Lightning's shoulder with her lips and teeth at Lightning's collar bone, worshiping it like a hunter feasting upon the remaining scraps of her prey. Lightning squirmed against Fang, only wanting to feel her hold tighter. The last of her orgasm leaving her with a strange lightheaded feeling. She could feel the thin glaze of sweat that covered her cooling on her body. This was all so new to her.

No walls remained. Lightning was more open and vulnerable then she had ever been with anyone. It was a truly liberating feeling. Even with Fang's hands groping at her body freely, almost greedily, she loved the feeling. She had no reason to play the part of the professional soldier with her lover. For once, she was able to tend to her own feelings and needs. Needs that she wasn't even aware she had. It was alarming to find out now _urgent_ they were.

"Fang.." Lightning whispered, trying to roll over in her arms.

Fang relinquished her grip on the soldier with a hum of protest against her neck. In the same swift movement, she pulled Lightning on top of her with a lazy grin. Lightning gasped softly at the contact. In this position, it felt as thought their bodies were meant to be against each others like this in their natural state. They just fit. _Fang's abs are incredible.._

They stared at each other for a long moment. Fang's eyes were full of affection. She was just about the most soft and sweet feral creature Lightning had ever laid eyes on. Her first impression of Fang had made her pin the tribal goddess as a rough lover. It surprised her how wrong she was. A gentle giant, Fang was. She was pulled into a kiss that made her lose any thought or sense or reality then._ How does she do that?_

Lightning reluctantly broke the kiss and put a hand on Fang's shoulder to push herself up. She'd admit the position she ended up in was rather sexy, and the blanket had fallen off from around her shoulders exposing her nude torso. Her hair fell in front of her covering most of her face and her eyelids were heavy with afterglow. Her cheeks and lips were scarlet. With a knee on either side of Fang's hips, the upward movement had caused their bodies to grind against each other, making Fang's eyes close.

"Round two?" Fang growled her query, her hands running down Lightning's front.

"N-No.. " Lightning smiled, twitching from Fang's touch. She forced herself off of Fang and the bed, and found her panties on the floor. "We need to check on that robot."

Fang sighed as she leaned sideways out of the bed. Her arm hung lazily over the side as her eyes ran over her lover's body as she dressed. It wasn't until Lightning pulled on her tight black shorts that Fang had decided it'd been too long since she touched her. She vacated the bed immediately.

Lightning felt Fang come up behind her. Her arms wrapping around her stomach, her nose traveled through her hair, smelling her. Fang sighed contently into the woman's neck.

"You aren't helping.." Lightning stammered. The skirt she had pulled up to her knees slipped out of her fingertips at the contact and came to rest at her ankles. She was having an_ extremely_ difficult time resisting Fang's advances.

"Ah. Right, sorry." Fang smirked. kneeling down to pick the skirt up and bring it around Lightning's waist. She fumbled for a long moment trying to find just which zipper would secure the skirt in place.

In silence, they both paused, glancing over the scattered pieces of cloth on the ground.

"Ah ha." Fang said happily, finding Lightning's bra on the ground first. "Here ya go." Fang suspended the bra in front of Lightning as if she were helping her put on a jacket.

Lightning's hand came up to her forehead as she laughed.

"Come on. I'm helping." Fang's grin widened.

Lightning slipped her arms through the straps blushing that she had someone helping her put a bra on.

"Right." Fang said as she hooked the strap in the back. "Whats next..?" Fang hummed to herself buoyantly as she picked up the turtle neck and held it in front of Lightning. She grabbed it out of Fang's hand and smacked her with it, rolling her eyes.

"Smart ass." Lightning muttered, putting the shirt on.

Fang just couldn't stop smiling. She ran a hand through her hair as she went in search of her own clothing.

"Well, that was a delightful way to spend the afternoon." Fang grinned to herself.

"That's an understatement." Lightning said under her breath, grinning as well. She felt so calm for once. It was baffling. She was completely rejuvenated.

Fang bit her lip as she wrapped the last of the blue cloth around herself. "Not bad for your first time, then?"

Lightning froze as she flipped up one side of her collar on her jacket. _Of course, she knew.._ Lightning fought for a witty comeback as Fang opened the door, holding it open for her.

Lightning walked to Fang and planted a swift kiss on Fang's cheek. "Decent. Hope it gets better from here."

She walked ahead, glancing back to show Fang a vibrant smile.

"Ouch." Fang chuckled, pulling the door shut behind her.

* * *

As they made their way to the old orphanage where the rest of their comrades were staying, Light took in her surroundings. She supposed that once upon a time this place could have been beautiful. She wondered where her parents had stayed, how they met, what they had done for a living. What would general life in Gran Pulse be like? The idea of being Pulsian no longer upset Lightning. It made her anxious to know that the truth could be just around the corner. And there was the possibility that she could come across something that had belonged to her parents. The prospect excited her.

Lightning glanced over to Fang to see her eyes were lost in the scenery that surrounded them as well. She wondered how many stories Fang had to tell about growing up here. Her eyebrows pulled together when she realized there was probably not enough time to hear them all right now. Later. She would definitely have to get them out of her later. Fang caught Lightning staring at her then returned the glance with a content smile. Content even without all the technology Lightning had grown up with. Lightning had been spoiled rotten by the fal'Cie doing everything possible to make human life easier. Their every want and need was taken care of immediately. Lightning had been raised as a pet while Fang on the other hand grew up independently. The way it was supposed to be. _Fang_ could set her free too.

As they walked into the orphanage, they found Hope sitting next to Snow's still figure in the lobby sending curing spells through the older man's body. He obviously still hadn't recovered completely from the Dahaka battle.

"Still out, huh?" Lightning asked, putting a hand on Hope's shoulder.

"He was awake today. Just napping." Hope muttered. Fang noticed a hint of irritation in the boy's voice. Automatically, she assumed it was due to Lightning's extended absence. She had a feeling the boy had a crush on the soldier.

"Is Vanille here?" Fang whispered so as to not wake Sazh who was a few beds down, asleep.

"In one of the dormitories." Hope said, without looking at Fang.

Fang smirked and lead the way upstairs. There was a long hallway with doors running along the way on both sides. _Fang grew up here_... Lightning's imagine was running wild as she tried to take in every detail.

"Vanille?" Fang called and got a squeak of a response from the last door on the right. She pushed the door open and Lightning could see Vanille sitting on the floor beside the operational robot.

"Look!" Vanille screeched happily. There was a holographic screen suspended in mid air in front of her face. It was far too advanced for a robot that looked so simple, Lightning thought. Vanille pushed a pushed a button and it looked like someone's head appeared on the screen.

_"Ladies and gentlemen..!"_

"Turn that off, Vanille!" Fang gasped and pulled the door shut quickly. The voice that had come out of the robot sounded strangely like Fang's. Lightning's eyes went wide.

"What is that?" Lightning asked, mystified.

"Nothing." Fang gritted her teeth. The sound of Fang's muffled voice could still be heard though she sounded younger than she was now. She sounded more enthusiastic than Lightning had ever heard her before. Fang slammed her fist on the door. "Turn it off!" There was a faint giggle on the other side of the door.

"Is that _you_?" Lightning asked, a smirk coming to her lips.

Fang narrowed her eyes at Lightning but she couldn't hide the crimson in her cheeks. The recording had come to an end and Fang pushed the door open.

Vanille immediately rose to her feet and took a defensive stance in the corner where Fang immediately pushed her against the wall and began tickling her. Lightning smirked at the form of punishment that was implemented as she walked up to look at the holographic control panel on the robot. Everything was in a foreign text. She glanced over her shoulder to see that no one was paying attention before pushing the biggest button in the middle. Her wish was granted.

_"Ladies and gentlemen!" _A teenage Fang came up on the screen. The movement in the corner halted and the room fell silent. Lightning's jaw dropped. _"Today is a wonderful day! My sister Vanille, here, is now a fully fledged woman!" _What Lightning assumed was a very young Vanille danced across the background. Teenage Fang's head turned in the direction the body had vanished._ "C'mere!"_

Fang approached the robot hastily but Lightning threw her body in front of Fang preventing her from shutting off the recording.

Young Vanille sat beside Fang, the teen draped an arm over her younger sister._ "Tell em what ya did!"_

_"I killed a bear all by myself!" _The young Vanille squeaked jubilantly. She held up a large piece of its fur, the same piece Lightning recognized that she was wearing around her waist right now.

_"I'm so proud of you.." _The teenage Fang crooned_._ Lightning studied her face. It was rounder. Her eyes, despite the grainy picture, were bright green. So happy. There was no brand on her shoulder.

_"What are you gonna do now that you're an adult?"_ The teenage Fang asked.

_"I'm gonna get sloshed! Ciao!" _The young Vanille squealed before running off camera. The teenage Fang's face fell, looking concerned.

_"Hey.. Don't drink too much, Vanille you'll get sick!"_

The recording ended, and Lightning slowly moved her head in Fang's direction with a wide grin on her face. Fang looked away, her cheeks burning bright red.

"That's quite embarrassing.." Fang muttered.

"Wow.." Lightning said. "You were adorable."

"Adorable!" Vanille echoed between giggles, she reached up to pinch Fang's cheek and Fang knocked her hand away. Her face was dangerous as she chased Vanille around the room.

"Are there more of those?" Lightning asked, afraid to push any more of the buttons.

"That's _not_ why we're here." Fang growled. She walked in front of the robot looking harassed and backed out of the program completely.

Lightning touched her hand, making her stop whatever she was doing.

"Don't be mad.." Lightning smiled.

"I'm not _mad_.." Fang muttered.

Lightning laughed softly before kissing Fang on the cheek and running a hand through her hair. She sat beside where Fang was standing and leaned against the wall. "Let's get down to business, then."

Fang started scrolling through long lists of ancient script. Though Lightning couldn't read any of the words on the screen, if these were people's names that had been l'Cie, Fang wasn't lying when she said there was a whole lot of them. They seemed to span on forever. At this rate it might take a while. Vanille sat on the bed letting her head hang off end backwards. As the time passed, the conversation had moved to Serah. At some point Vanille had actually met her. Lightning would have imagined them getting along quite well.

"Wow.." Vanille sighed. "She told you she was a l'Cie on your _birthday_?"

"Yeah. Some present, huh?" Lightning smiled sarcastically.

"Twenty... first?" Vanille asked.

"Yep." Lightning said, leaning her head on Fang's shoulder.

"Hmm.." Vanille said thoughtfully. Stretching her hands to touch the floor underneath her.

"I've searched every variation of your mother's name I can think of. It must have been different before.." Fang said uncertainly. It didn't make sense that she couldn't find the soldier's mom.

"What about dad's?" Lightning asked.

"Nothing." Fang muttered, sounding frustrated. "What did she look like? I can search by that.."

Lightning sighed, letting her eyes closed. Her's mother's face came to her. In truth, she looked like a carbon copy of Serah. It was an innocent face even as she aged, she always did look young. Even as she was _dying_. Lightning frowned and began describing her mother's gigantic blue eyes. The pink hair all three of them shared. Natural pink hair hadn't been common on Cocoon.

"You look a lot like Serah.." Vanille commented.

"People would confuse us for each other when we were little." Lightning smiled to herself. Well, they did at least until Lightning got tall. That was one thing she'd gotten from her father.

"Bingo." Fang whispered. Lightning sat up straight. "_That's_ why we couldn't find her..."

"What?" Lightning whispered.

"Farron." Fang highlighted a line of text. "That was her name. I think.."

"Her first name?" Lightning's eyes were huge.

"Let's see." Fang pushed a button and a woman's face came upon the screen. She appeared to be in her early twenties. A kind smile framed her lips, her wide blue eyes were kind.. Lightning stopped breathing.

"Is that her..?" Fang asked softly. Vanille had gotten off of the bed to see for herself.

Lightning just nodded. It felt like her body had gone numb from the shock. She couldn't take her eyes off of her mother's face.

"I see where you get your looks." Fang grinned, staring at the side of Lightning's face.

"What.. does it say?" Lightning croaked.

"Hmm. Let's see here." Fang glanced back to the screen. "Oerba Yun Farron. Twenty one years old when she was branded. Hmm. Five foot five inches tall. She was married." Fang smiled. "Focus completed. Her crystal was indeed put on that vestige. It hasn't been updated since. Says shes still there. Hmm. No children..." Fang pulled up another screen. A man, unshaven, with long, dark hair. He had strong piercing blue eyes and a muscular build. "Oerba Yun Zane.." Fang started without even asking. A short release of breath from Lightning had confirmed it for her. "Six foot four, twenty five years old when he was branded. Focus complete. Last location, the vestige... No children." Fang's eyes narrowed.

Lightning hardly recognized her father with so much hair. He looked strangely intimidating. Young, handsome, but strong. He was a warrior, it was obvious. He would have made Fang look like a kitten beside him.

Lightning stood up. Her face was blank, her hands ran through her hair as she started pacing.

"Fang, look.." Vanille hummed. "_fal'Cie_.." The younger girl whispered. Lightning glanced back to see they brought her mother's profile up again.

"Whoa." Fang said.

"What?" Lightning asked.

"Your mom.. finished her focus when she was six months pregnant. You were right Light, you _weren't_ born on Gran Pulse. You were _conceived_ on Gran Pulse."

A strange noise escaped Lightning as another wave of shock ran through her. She sat down on the bed trying to absorb it all.

"So. That makes perfect sense then." Fang leaned back against the wall. "Your parents must have been released nearly 21 years exactly before Vanille and I were. They obviously weren't still branded, so they probably changed their names and tried to lay low and live a normal life on Cocoon to raise you."

Vanille shook her head. "Fang.. I don't like this."

"Don't like what?" Fang asked.

"It all connects." Vanille said uncertainly.

"Well, yeah. That's what we were trying to do." Fang looked at Vanille oddly.

"No.." Vanille stood up. "Fang we failed our focus but we turned to crystal. Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know. Good luck I suppose?"

Vanille shook her head. "Fang I think they put too much faith in us to get the job done."

"What makes you say that?" Fang asked, raising her arms above her head.

"Because.. they slaughtered the entire population on Gran Pulse. After we failed, they turned us to crystal. I don't think they had a choice otherwise if they wanted another shot at it."

"I.. don't follow you sweetheart." Fang muttered.

"Listen. We were put on a vestige that was intentionally brought to Cocoon to sit there for five hundred years only to be released and given the same focus. I'm the reason we failed, and my brand is still active. You're practically immortal because you at least tried.."

"Okay..?" Fang said, getting irritated.

"Why would they put Lightning's parents on the vestige that they knew they were going eventually release us from?" Vanille asked, her voice raising.

Fang opened her mouth to respond then closed it promptly. Her head cocking to one side.

"We got released immediately before Lightning turned twenty one, a mature age..." Vanille spoke slowly. Lightning was paying close attention to Vanille now.

Fang just smirked at Lighting. "Looks like you were _made_ for me."

"Urghh! No, Fang!" Vanille stamped her foot. "The legend says only a full blood Pulsian can summon the power of Ragnarok. And guess what, they killed everybody, Fang! Everyone! They didn't have a choice other than crystallizing us or they'd lose that power forever. We aren't expendable like other l'Cie. But they didn't want to trust us again only to have us to fail and they knew I was the weak link. The fal'Cie must have sensed that Lightning's mother was pregnant. The child of two good l'Cie that did their jobs, it gave us another option this time."

Fang stood up slowly, comprehension on her face turning into horror.

"It was all predetermined." Vanille continued. "Lightning.. was practically branded before she was even born. Yeah, she was _made_ for you Fang. Made to become Ragnarok with you.

"I'm.. supposed to become Ragnarok..?" Lightning said slowly, her head spinning.

"No." Fang said firmly.

"But Fang-" Vanille started, she was immediately cut off.

"I won't allow it." Fang's eyes were slits. "This isn't your burden to bear. We don't even know if we have to that yet. And if it comes to that, then Vanille, you're completing your focus whether you like it or not. You can't run forever." Fang spat. Vanille flinched at the words.

Lightning rose off of the bed and, in silence, left the room. This was so much to absorb at once. She'd made it to the end of hall before she heard someone following her._ Fang.._ She didn't turn at the sound. Instead, she sped up until she was outside. Standing in the middle of the road she stared up at the night sky. She heard Fang come to stand behind her and she leaned back into her lover.

"Don't.. get worked up about that. Vanille has a wild imagine, I'm sorry.." Fang murmured.

"She's right." Lightning said.

"No." Fang turned Lightning around by her shoulders. "She's not."

"She is.." Lightning said softly, her lip curling. "And that's okay."

Fang shook her head.

"If it comes to that, then I'll be willing to do it. If it saves Serah, I'll do anything. And if I'm with you while I'm doing it, then I don't have to be afraid." Lightning spoke confidently.

"Light.." Fang whispered desperately.

"You know, I never noticed that the stars here are _real_. "Lightning looked back up at the sky. "On Cocoon, the stars were just lights from other cities. These are consistent and true.. Just like you." She let her eyes fall back to Fang's as she touched her lover's face softly with her hand.

Knowing the truth about everything and finally seeing concrete evidence that proved it gave Lightning a boost of confidence. As she stood in the same village that her parent's had fallen in love and gotten married, it seemed so appropriate that _Fang_ would be the first person she ever had feelings for. The unspoken connection they shared may have been something far more complex than just a simple romance but without Fang, she wouldn't even know who she was or who her parents were. Inside she could feel pride swelling inside of her just for who they had been and what they accomplished. How could they have kept a secret like that so well? She understood now why she was here. Every step she'd ever taken, every decision, every revelation had brought her to this point and she was prepared for it.

Fang sighed, leaning her head into Lightning's touch looking defeated.

"Don't worry." Lightning said softly.

"Let's just... play it by ear."

* * *

**Many, MANY thanks to Rilora**


	9. The Promise

**Hiyo. Been busy this week. Banged this out tonight, it is currently 1:30am and I apologize if I missed any errors. Please leave a review :) **

**

* * *

**Despite everything, it was quite funny how things worked out. After all the time and energy Lightning had expended fearing Gran Pulse and the world below in general, a large part of her didn't want to leave it now. If not for her responsibility and loyal obligation she had to Serah, she might have been content to just sit around in Oerba and wait to turn into a monster. _Nah.._That was the easy way out. The fal'Cie had to pay for everything she'd been put through. For her family, for the rest of the human race and for her parents. They would pay. She'd have to think about living arraignments afterwords. The odd thing was she'd be leaving Pulse with far more to lose than she had when she arrived.

She'd just started up the stairs after speaking with Snow, who had appeared to have made a full recovery. His simple solution to their issue of being stranded had been to follow the cei'th, something so stupid that Lightning would normally have slugged him for. Lightning knew that was no solution. It was like swinging into vacant air, but despite being dumber than a rock the man hadn't given up yet and the only thing driving him was freeing her little sister. _Interesting, not such a bad guy after all_. She had to admire that and it felt good to have a plan of some sort again. Then she wondered what he'd think if he knew that Serah and herself were both of full blooded Pulsian descent. She came close to telling him everything, but now was not the time for people to lose trust in her. Obviously she had no idea all along, but would people like Sazh believe that? No, if they survived this she'd willingly tell them everything. But Snow had no right of knowing before _Serah_.

And for now, they needed to focus.

Over her shoulder she could hear Snow, Sazh and Hope leaving. As she went to ready her team for the day, she smiled to herself at the unintentional segregation that occurred, which in turn made her smile wider at the fact that she already considered herself one of _them_. Pushing the first door open Lightning found Vanille curled up into a little ball of comfort on the nearest bed sleeping peacefully. Slightly dumbfounded, she stood there watching the little girl sleep. Could this really be the source of Ragnarok's power? It made Vanille's radical theory make so much sense when she saw her in a weak state like this. Not that she normally looked like a strong warrior or anything, she was definitely the weaker of the two by far. But Lightning couldn't figure out why would Fang prefer to have _this _girl make up the other half or Ragnarok over her. Did this mean if anything happened, that Fang would prefer that Vanille die with her or otherwise end up in another time with her? She didn't want leave the girl behind. Did Lightning have competition?

With a pang of jealousy she shook the girl awake.

"We're leaving. You have five minutes to get ready." Lightning muttered, heading immediately for the door.

Vanille only had time to frown at her back. She couldn't figure out why the soldier always had so much contempt in her eyes.

Unperturbed, Lightning strode down the hallway to return to the arms she'd snuck out of only a few hours ago. To be fair, Fang looked rather comfortable when she left her. As she pushed this door open she found Fang already awake, sitting in front of the robot Bhakti. Slightly startled, she backed out of whatever she was looking at and smirked at Lightning.

"Hey."

"What are you doing?" Lightning asked, crossing the room to sit on the end of the bed.

"Nothing." Fang grinned, turning her face away. "Got an early start, hey?"

"Yeah. We're going cie'th hunting. Better than nothing right?" Lightning said slowly, staring at Fang. _Are her eyes wet?_ Lightning let her own eyes fall back to the robot as it slowly came to her. Fang was saying goodbye. Goodbye to Oerba, goodbye to Pulse, perhaps, goodbye to life in general. Normalcy would be nearly impossible if they made it back to Cocoon, from the moment they got their it would be a straight shot until the very end and no one knew exactly _how_ it was going to end. Nevertheless, Fang kept the firm smile planted on her face, and even though Lightning saw through it she played ignorant for her lover. She rose to her feet swiftly and had her arms around Fang in a soothing, sweet motion. Her head landed on Fang's arm.

"We have a couple of minutes left.." Lightning spoke muffled against Fang's arm. Internally she cursed herself. _Why did I say it like that, a couple of minutes left for what? It's not over yet..._

"A couple of minutes to each other, you mean.." Fang stated, letting her head fall to Lightning's and rest against it.

"Right.." Lightning whispered, feeling a pit grow in her stomach. "We'll have all the time in the world when we're done."

Fang winced. _Time.. There will never be enough of it._

* * *

The tribal woman paced up and down the cabin of the airship. Could this be another trap? It didn't matter, they had no other options. Anxiousness spread throughout her like wildfire. In mere moments they could be returning to Cocoon. Sazh was messing with the controls of the aircraft and the motor came to life with a loud roar. Fang had to force herself to take a seat.

Who would have known that the next step in their quest lie at the end of the broken bridge all along. Their latest encounter with Barthandelus had left her more confused than ever. _Orphan? How come this was never mentioned in the legends?_ She glanced to the other side of the ship where Lightning was sitting alone, looking furious as she stared out the window.

_A real class act, Dysley is._

He'd taken on the form of Lightning's little sister, and Vanille had been more than correct in saying she had a striking resemblance to her sister. Same features, but _so_ different at the same time.

The words that Serah's form had spoken haunted Fang now.

_"Ragnarok. _

_Come Day of Wrath, O Pulse l'Cie._

_ Embrace thy fate, thine home to burn._

_ That fallen souls might bear our plea..To hasten the Divine's return._

_ O piteous Wanderer, Ragnarok_

_ Make of this day a brave epoch._

_ Deliver the Divine, Ragnarok._"

It didn't help that it wasn't actually Serah, the form of the girl had stared at her sister with such conviction as she muttered this nonsense like she could see right through her. Fang was sure Barthandelus had ways of knowing everything. Smoke and mirrors, as Sazh called it. It was a low blow and it showed on Lightning's face. Fang didn't want her getting any ideas about Ragnarok. Now was not the time for heroics. As it was anyway, it appeared she was going back into berserk mode. They traveled through a similar gateway that had got them to Pulse in the first place. The same flashing lights greeted them, only when they reached the end of the tunnel they found themselves approaching a floating city.

"Eden." Lightning whispered between her teeth.

"Seriously?" Vanille gasped. Fang went stiff. This was their destination. It would end here one way or another.

"I can't control this damn thing anymore!" Sazh yelled. "The ship is on a planned course!"

"Open the hatch." Lightning mumbled, getting to her feet. "We're getting off _here_."

"What?" Hope said, his voice cracking. "But we're like thousands of feet-"

"Summon your eidolons. I'm in charge of my own fate." Lightning spat, interjecting. Without another word, Lightning jumped head first out of the cabin and began barreling towards the ground. Without thinking, Fang followed her, not realizing the shock of the soldier's actions until she was falling right behind her. Lightning looked graceful even as she fell. Completely fearless, it was so impressive. With a swift gesture she released her eidolith and spun in the air to shoot it out of the sky with perfect marksmanship. Odin was soon flying beside her. Fang broke her own stone and was soon sitting on top of Bahamut, keeping a close eye on Lightning.

On a flat platform, Odin landed first. Moving with precision he caught Lightning just feet from the floor and tossed her like a gymnast onto his back. Now that she was safe, Fang could take in her surroundings. Behind her she could see the others had followed suit. It appeared they'd landed on a race track, thousand of spectators surrounded this intricate course and this shocked Fang. How could these idiots still be carrying on with their regular lives and not even realize that their entire existence was being threatened. _Ignorant_.

Their appearance had set off alarms, PSICOM ships began flooding the arena and they made a hasty exit. Reconvening just outside of the race hall the six l'Cie began traversing through the intricate city. _A city_.. Fang would hardly call it that. There hardly seemed to be any shelter anywhere. People where running down the streets trying to escape it. The war machines and monsters from the Fifth Ark conveniently seemed to be unleashed at the same time that l'Cie had arrived in Eden. It was an all out war zone.

But the only hard part lie in keeping up with the frantic pace the soldier set in front of them. Blindly, it seemed, Lightning was cutting through every single obstacle that got in their way. Whether it was from Pulse or Cocoon it didn't appear to matter to her. She was viscous and meticulous, working like an emotionless machine. The magic seemed to seep from her even when she wasn't physically making it appear. If she wasn't making something bleed with her blade she was shattering it's bones with bullets. If it wasn't on fire it was writhing on the ground with an electric current causing it to convulse. It was as if Fang had finally gotten to see first hand just how dangerous Lightning could be. This must have been what it was like that night in the Ark when she went on a rampage. She loved watching this, but she knew that Lightning must be in pain. Something had triggered this, perhaps the appearance of her sister. There was no way to pull her aside now and clear her head.

It wasn't long at this pace that they broke into Edenhall, the capital. The home of Orphan. The giant door opened, as if it were expecting them. Inside, it was quiet. Far too calm in comparison to the chaos that was spouting outside. Together, they climbs the steps that ascended to an even platform. A spectacular centerpiece surrounded them, several statues of surrounded them. Eerily, Fang wondered if this was the Goddess..

A single beat had passed until the statues started shifting. Fang felt Vanille grasp at her tightly from behind.

"It's okay.." Fang said, even though she was frightened herself. The entire room around them began changing into something different. Something she'd never seen before. Everything about this place went against the laws of nature. Coming directly from Oerba, this place seemed to be the exact opposite. The crimson walls seemed never ending. Platforms suspended in mid air by nothing floated in a current along either side of they stood. Everyone goggled for a moment at what had happened. How could a place like this exist in Cocoon's capital city and go undetected for so many centuries? Fang would admit that it seemed like an appropriate place for the end to come.

Following behind Lightning, Fang was glad this place was so complex. It caused the soldier to slow down and think out her movements. It seemed like if they fell they would be falling for a very long time. Finally coming to the end of the road the entered the final portal together.

It took them to an odd white room. It made no sense for it to be here. Beautiful statues were the centerpieces and comfortable looking chairs lined the walls.

"Please.." Hope huffed. "Let's rest."

Lightning sighed.

"Seriously." Sazh agreed, falling into one of the chairs.

"Right. It'll probably be the last time anyway." Lightning muttered, taking a seat herself. Fang couldn't help but stare at Lightning. The way she sat with perfect posture, her legs crossed, her blade rested on her lap casually. Stunning. Even in, perhaps, her final hour. Her face was so smooth and calm. Professional. It looked almost as if Lightning were at a swanky dentist's office waiting for her appointment. She noticed Fang's eyes on her shortly after she sat down and stared back at the tribal woman.

"This is it.. We're really here.." Vanille whispered. She'd taken a seat on the ground leaning against one of the statues. Fang just nodded, not breaking eye contact with Lightning. She couldn't decipher the unspoken words that were passing between them now.

"So what's the plan?" Hope asked.

"Charge in, guns blazing." Snow smirked. "We're taking them out, kid."

"But what about Cocoon?" Sazh asked.

Lightning's head shook, and she broke eye contact with Fang. "Doesn't matter. Whatever happens in there," She gestured towards the end of the room. "We need to make sure that this can't happen again."

Everyone grew quiet at this. Would they really end up destroying Cocoon?

"All the people.." Vanille said, defeated.

"There's got to be a way we can do both." Lightning muttered.

Fang's mind was spinning. If Orphan was really the source of power for everything, and they killed it Cocoon would be dead. Phoenix, Carbuncle.. Even the gravity was artificial. A sharp gust of air left Fang's lungs. If they destroyed Orphan, if they had to, Cocoon would fall out of the sky. How could_ that_ be stopped? Fang took a seat next to Vanille and put an arm around her, pulling her close til her mouth was millimeters from the girl's ear.

"I need you to trust me." Fang breathed. "If things get bad in there, you need to complete your focus.."

Vanille's shoulders slumped and she turned her head to Fang's ear, getting on her knees so she could reach.

"I don't want to destroy Cocoon." Vanille lamented.

"I don't either.." Fang whispered. "Please trust me, it might be the only way to save it."

"Having a nice little exchange?" Lightning interrupted looking harassed. "Anything you'd like to share?"

Fang met Lightning's glare with a surprised look. "Erm. No."

"Right." Lightning said, looking away. She'd never be able to put into words how much pain went through her body at this moment. _She really is choosing Vanille_.. She had this horrible foreboding feeling come over her that six people were going to enter the center of Eden, and less than six were going to live to tell the tale. She winced mentally as she rose and walked to the end of the room. Everyone watched her go. Everyone but Vanille was confused at the exchange that had just happened.

Fang got to her feet and followed the soldier away without meeting anyone's eyes. Lightning did _not_ turn to greet her.

"Are you okay?" Fang asked, putting a hand on the soldier's shoulder.

"Fine." Lightning scowled without turning around.

"I need to tell you something." Fang said uneasily, Lightning didn't answer.

"I don't know how thing's are going to go in there. I.. There's something I need you to know."

No response. Fang sighed.

"Light.. "

_Nothing.._

"Claire."

Lightning shoulders twitched at the use of her given name.

"I've.. fallen for you, Claire. I think.. I think I'm in l-"

Lightning turned around abruptly. Her eyes looked enraged. Fang took a step back.

"You want me to believe that?" Lightning hissed.

Fang's mouth fell open, her face crumpled.

"Do you?" Lightning continued. Fang only nodded.

"Then.. " Lightning's face fell. A tear escaped her despite the effort she put into holding it back. Fang made the motion to wipe it away but Lightning moved away from her touch.

"Then you tell me afterward, Fang. When this is all over. Tell me then!" Lightning choked, wiping her own tear away and turning around. She was no longer able to look at Fang.

"I will. I promise." Fang said to her back. "Let's get this over with." Fang muttered, turning to get the others.

Lightning stood there, breathing deeply trying desperately to compose herself. _Love?_ Shaking her head, she put her professional face on.

Snow was staring at them, looking mystified. When he saw Fang begin walking towards them, he turned to Vanille.

"I know it's not my business. But.. are they a... _thing_?" He spoke lowly to the girl so no one else would hear.

Vanille bit her lip diverting her eyes. "I.. can't say." She muttered, but that was all the confirmation Snow needed. He turned again, his eyes landing on the back of his soon-to-be sister.

"Ready?" Fang muttered, looking depressed as she stopped in front of them. Vanille gave Fang a concerned frown.

Silently they rose together, walking side by side behind their leader. Taking the first steps of the rest of their lives into the den of their destiny.


	10. Two Tickets to Paradise

**I am deep in a river.**  
**Waves above my head.**  
**Held with no spirit.**  
**We descend,**

**We reach the end.**

**Pendulum - Under the Waves**

* * *

"Are you ready, Fang?" Vanille asked in a small voice.

She received no response and Fang felt Vanille's hands grip her own even tighter.

Fang was staring up at the others as the chaos played out around them. In the darkness, she could barely make out their outlines, but she could tell which one as _her_. It was really admirable how once they found out they couldn't destroy Barthandelus without destroying Orphan and in turn, Cocoon, that nobody wavered on their decision. They knew there was no other option. It had to be done or this viscous cycle would just be enacted again with a different cast.

After Orphan had bellowed it's last scream, it was like they'd pulled the plug instantly. The power had gone out immediately and the silence they were met with was haunting. When the gravity gave out, Fang used the opportunity to pull Vanille aside and drift away. Her mind was set. Just as she'd expected, Cocoon was falling out of the sky with a direct collision course of the world below, of her home world.. There was only one thing left to do and _now_ she was hesitating.

"You'll see her again.." Vanille murmured.

Pain flashed in Fang's face.

The last time she'd taken on the form of Ragnarok to complete her focus, she'd slept for over five hundred years. Coupled with the fact that she wasn't even sure that this idea would work and not knowing if the others would even survive the fall, it made the inevitable outcome so unpredictable. Faulty. Was it worth the risk? And being that there was no time to think, she froze.

"We _have_ to.." Vanille shook Fang's arms realizing they were running out of time. Fang sighed and forced her eyes off of the other l'Cie. It would be easier to do it now, before Lightning had noticed her absence. Even now that the sky is falling, Fang only found herself concerned with keeping her promise to Lightning. It was a stupid and selfish way to feel when there was so much at stake and she did her best to cast the idea aside.

"Alright.." Fang muttered, her shoulders slumping. She let her eyes meet Vanille's and that had helped her calm down a bit so she could think clearer.

Scores of feet above them, the rest of the l'Cie had taken hands, forming a circle and trying to figure out what exactly was causing them to float. The obvious had still not occurred to them. Lightning's mind was racing but all she could feel was the sinking feeling in her stomach. _I... destroyed Cocoon_. Panic consumed her and frantically she went in search of those soft green eyes, but they were nowhere to be found. She broke ranks from the circle, dropping the hands beside her to spin in a full circle in search of her.

"Light?" Hope asked, grabbing onto her uniform to keep her from floating away.

Lightning found Fang then and a pained noised escaped her throat. Focus complete, there she was. Escaping with Vanille. Without a backward glance. A wide range of emotions went through her at this moment and she felt it all at the same time. It was so overwhelming. Fear, for Fang's safety. Rejection, at her _choosing_ Vanille. Indescribable pain, her heart breaking. Her eyes stung. She felt Hope pulling her back and she roughly shook out of his grip. Her eyes narrowed to slits and her fists balled up tightly. She breathed hard between her clenched teeth. She couldn't keep up with her feelings, as they were now turning violent. Anger, at being lied to. Fury, had she been taken advantage of for her first time..? This woman she'd wanted so badly, the first person she'd ever let inside of her safely guarded walls. She was so internally conflicted right now that she wasn't sure if she wanted to hug Fang, or punch her.

She snapped her fingers, activating her Grav-con Unit.

A strange purple aura covered her body. This implant she'd received from the Guardian Corps now gave her a free range of movement, but before she could move she felt two gigantic arms come around her body. _Snow._

"You.. stay put." He grunted into her ear.

"Let go!" Lightning yelled. She struggled against his arms.

"No. We're going to see Serah, _together_. _I'm_ not going to be the one to tell her her sister died while chasing skirts."

"You son of a bitch!" Lightning screamed. Snow had her arms pinned against her side and she could see the faint aura fading from her body. The charge had ended and Fang had just heard that outburst.

She turned to see Lightning being restrained. Her face fell, she was teetering on the edge of despair at the thought of leaving Lightning, maybe forever. Lightning locked eyes with her and began shaking her head. After Snow let go of her knowing she wouldn't be able to go anywhere Lightning held a hand out, as if begging for Fang to return to her. Crushed, Fang had to look away. "Follow my lead, Vanille."

Lightning turned to face Snow looking extremely dangerous.

"If I lose her, it's _your_ fault." She choked with tears in her eyes. They stared at each other, Snow looked absolutely shocked at the amount of emotion Lightning was displaying over Fang, until a giant white flash that came from below distracted them. A gasp escaped Lightning.

Fang and Vanille, still holding hands, were emitting the light that grew brighter now until they were complete engulfed in it. Lightning had to cover her face in her eyes to stop her eyes from burning. A huge rush of heat ran over her body accompanying the light. It felt like too much, like she was going to be lit on fire, and when she finally thought she was going to start sprouting flames the light disappeared. A chill ran over her body at its absence as she removed her hands from her eyes.

"Ragnarok!" Hope practically squealed.

_Oh.._

Lightning had been wrong about Fang's intentions. Nonplussed, she stared at the gigantic full formed monster. The mythical creature she was sure she'd only ever read about in books reared its head, not even a hundred feet away from her now. _Unreal._ The books and displays did it no justice. It was far larger than Lightning could have ever anticipated. It must have been heavy too, because it the ground running, before diving off of the side of Cocoon. _Odd_. The way it moved it appeared like there was no...

_Oh.._

"I get it now.." Lightning muttered. "There's no gravity. We're not floating, Cocoon's falling." No one had heard her.

"What's it doing?" Sazh yelled.

"Who knows." Snow answered.

_It's trying to stop..._

The loudest sound yet thundered throughout the hollow sphere, echoing off of the walls. Lightning actually had to cover her ears. At once they could see the entire shell of Cocoon waver, shuddering from side to side as if someone were shaking it like a snow globe. Before their very eyes, Eden, the headstone, the entire floating island that served as the capital of the entire planet for hundreds of years went through the side of the shell, breaking it and leaving a large hole where it had exited. The ground beneath them had disappeared. Cocoon was no longer falling, but they were spiraling into a free fall themselves. A free fall into never ending air.

"Oh god! Oh god! Oh god!" Hope was panting.

Lightning was silent. She closed her eyes and she felt the wind passing through her hair with such a high velocity. Despite falling, she felt a warm current spreading through her body starting at her chest. _My brand_..

It was the last conscious thought Lightning had. Fading to black, she felt no impact when she landed.

* * *

"Wake up." A soft voice came to her ears, as well as a faint chirping noise and running water..

Lightning shook her head, her eyes fluttering open. "Vanille..?"

"No.."

Lightning focused her eyes on the face._ Serah.._

"How..?" she breathed. "Oh Serah.." Lightning flung her arms around her sister holding her close. The small figured hugged her back. Lightning's eyes wandered on the walls adorned with plants and waterfalls. _The springs?_

"How did we get here?" Lightning asked, feeling uneasy.

"I don't know, its your dream." Serah said, watching Lightning's face fall.

"Don't worry though, you can wake up any time you want." Serah said, smiling kindly at her.

"What do you mean, _'wake up'_?" Lightning asked.

"Try it. Open your eyes."

Lightning stared at her sister. "Don't my eyes already look open to you?"

Serah laughed. "No. Close them, then_ really_ open them."

Lightning sighed, looking at Serah irritably before letting her eyes close. When she opened them she was shocked to find herself already standing, staring at the long plains of the Archylte steppe. The _'dream'_ she had been having was immediately erased from her memory. She looked at her hands, her muscles felt stiff. _Pulse? How did I get on Pulse?_ That was when she noticed the crystal statues beside her. She walked up to the nearest one and touched it. _ Sazh. Did I turn into a crystal too?_ It was like Lake Bresha all over again, but this time there was people missing. Her heart dropped when she noticed there was only two other statues.

Snow was the first one Lightning saw come back to life, holding his head he immediately fell to his knees breathing deeply.

"I'm alive.." He whispered. He looked up at Lightning who was standing behind him, and then his eyes went to something else. They grew wide as his mouth fell open.

Lightning turned to see what he was looking at and fell to her knees as well.

_Cocoon. On a stick._

She could hear Hope and Sazh's figures coming back to life behind her._  
_

A large pillar of crystal was holding the entire sphere up. There were several more gashes in the hollow shell that looked lifeless from here. Had all the cities come tumbling out? What about the people? These were afterthoughts to Lightning. Fang did this. Fang saved Pulse. Her and Vanille, they saved the world. A large group of people could be seen at the base of the pillar. While Cocoon didn't look inhabitable any longer, there was thousands of survivors. The human race would move on eventually.

"Our brands are gone!" Hope yelled happily.

Sazh and Snow's laughter played in Lightning's ears as she touched her jacket gingerly. _Mission accomplished, soldier_. If that's so, how come all she felt was despair? Her throat was constricted. _Where's Fang? _

All along, Lightning was wrong. It wasn't rejection as she'd suspected, far from it. Fang had chosen what was best for Lightning. If Vanille would have completed her focus centuries ago Lightning wouldn't have been a target of the fal'Cie's plans. But Lightning wanted to be the one stuck in the shell right now. For some reason, it _should _have been her instead. She winced as she remembered how she hadn't let Fang tell her she loved her before all of this happened.

_Tell me after.._

_Dammit.  
_

Lightning stared at the people stirring at the pillar. Maybe she'd come out now. Maybe, she'd just walk up with a smug grin on her face and fulfill her promise. That would be a _Fang_ thing to do. It was then that Lightning noticed the woman approaching them. Small, slender, youthful. Pale pink hair. The woman knelt down and pointed at them to a small boy that was walking beside her before they both began running. Lightning knew exactly who it was, but failed to believe her eyes.

Serah stopped about a foot in front of her and they stared at each other. The boy ran ahead to Sazh. _That must have been Dajh.._. Lightning drank in the details of her little sister's face with so much reverence. Serah smiled, and for a moment her eyes took on the exact shape and kindness of their mother. Lightning swayed on the spot.

"I missed you." Serah crooned, throwing her arms around Lightning.

_Bittersweet._

"I'm sorry.." Lightning said. "I should have believed you.." Lightning stared at the ground. How could she have _not_ thought of a proper way to apologize to Serah before this moment? What she did was unforgivable. _"I'm sorry" Isn't going to cut it._

"No.." Serah said softly, touching Lightning's face. "Claire.." Lightning brought her eyes up to look at Serah and see the concern in her face before Snow had picked the girl up and started spinning her around. Lightning watched them enjoy each other.

_So.. this is how it's going to be from now on.. _

The third wheel. The empty apartment she'd pictured herself living in after Serah got married had just been downgraded to a hut without electricity. Alone.

_Fang.._

Lightning's stinging eyes went back up to the shell.. _She promised_...

* * *

_Bodhum. How appropriate._

Fang walked slowly along the coast line. The entire city was deserted, obviously. Ahead of her she saw Vanille's sleeping figure resting on the sand. She sat beside Vanille before pushing at the girl's back.

"Wake up." Fang mumbled, sounding disheartened.

Vanille twitched before sitting up and looking around. "Bodhum?" She asked, thunderstruck.

"Uh huh." Fang grunted.

"But there's no way Bodhum could have survived that. Do you remember it this time? I do." Vanille said.

"Yeah, I do too." Fang muttered.

"Then.." Vanille started.

"This is what crystal stasis is _supposed_ to be like, Vanille.." Fang sighed. "You know.. when you actually_ complete_ your focus?"

Vanille still looked confused, so Fang continued.

"It's our own little dreamworld."

"Oh.. this isn't real." Vanille said in a small voice. "But why Bodhum?"

Fang shrugged, but she knew the reason. Lightning's home town. In any way, shape, or form she wanted to be close to the girl. Even if it meant being in an abandoned replica of where she used to live. She sighed again. How long would she be stuck for this time?

Vanille laid her head in Fang's lap. "Don't worry. We'll get out soon. I wonder if everyone's okay."

Another thing she may never find out the outcome of. Fang let her eyes close as she lay back on the sand.

"I love her, Vanille." She breathed.

"I know you do."

"I never got to tell her.." Fang's voice broke.

"You will." Vanille said softly, patting Fang's hand.

Behind her eyelids, Fang pictured the soldier's beautiful face. At least she had something _good_ think about for the next five hundred years while she was stranded on a tropical island.

_How cliché.._

_

* * *

_**If you're happy and you know it, leave a review :) *clap clap*  
**

**Oh, no it's not over. :P  
**


	11. Flare

**Feedback Please :)**

* * *

Things were getting back to normal. Well, as normal as they could be. The last few months of adjusting to an entirely different landscape and calling it home had been extremely difficult, but Serah was just glad there was at least one place she could go and have it still _feel _like home. NORA's new base of operations was a small bar in the heart of Oerba that attracted a more positive atmosphere. It was here that she and Snow would usually escape to in the evenings.

"Another round, Lebreau." Snow called from their booth in the corner. The brunette at the bar nodded at him. He let his arm fall around Serah's shoulder as he put a foot up on an empty chair next to him. They were accompanied tonight by Yuj and Maqui, two boys that associated with NORA. Nice guys, but so young, Serah would think to herself. They really looked up to Snow, probably as a father figure as well. It was nice that all the orphans could band together and have some sort of family. These days, there was _a lot_ more orphans.

"Here you go, hero." Lebreau said with a smirk as she set down a glass in front of each of them.

"Thanks." Snow muttered taking a long drink of the amber liquid.

"Hey, Serah, you might want to bail out your sister before she hurts that guy." Lebreau snickered. Serah's head whirled to find Lightning leaning against the bar. A man was trying to talk to her.

"Oh.." Serah said softly before getting up. She hadn't even noticed her come in. She approached her sister, who she had seen little of in the last two months. The man's voice came to her ears.

"Why don't you let me buy you a drink..?" He spoke confidently. He was rather attractive, Serah thought. Taller than her sister, a pretty nice looking build. She frowned slightly knowing by her sister's posture that the guy wouldn't even get a chance, but she couldn't blame him for trying. Lightning was probably the most attractive girl in the bar at the moment. Lightning didn't answer the man, so Serah put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey. I thought you were working?" Serah asked.

Lightning looked up and around before answering. "Taking a break." She muttered before downing the shot in front of her.

"Wow. Sisters?" The man grinned, looking to Serah. "Maybe I could get a drink for _you _instead?"

"Maybe you could get lost." Snow said, folding his arms. Serah's eyes were still locked on her sister's face with concern.

Lightning turned her head to watch the man leaving.

"I don't know why I still bother coming in here." Lightning said, sounding annoyed.

"Get you another one?" Lebreau asked Lightning, coming around the back of the bar again.

"One more, please." She said, pushing the shot glass in front of her.

"You.. shouldn't be drinking while you're working.." Serah said in a small voice.

Lightning shrugged.

The silence that followed was awkward. Snow looked away, knowing that Lightning blamed him for the reason she was so devastated. Out of respect and guilt, he told Serah nothing about what _really_ bothered her sister.

"Do you think you could come over tonight? I probably won't be home til late, but I need to talk to you about something." Lightning turned to Serah.

"Yeah, of course." Serah said. Perhaps she would finally find out what was wrong with her..

"You can stay the night if you want." Lightning said before finishing off her other shot and pushing herself away from the bar. "I've got to get back to work." She turned for the door without waiting for a response. Frowning, Serah stared after her.

"I wish I knew what was eating her." Serah lamented as she turned back for the booth.

"Maybe she'll tell you tonight." Snow said, unable to meet Serah's eyes. It was hard keeping things from her, it felt wrong.

"Yeah.. You don't mind, do you? If i stay there?" Serah asked.

"Nope. Family comes first." Snow said with a smile.

Lightning paused in the middle of the road to glance up at the crystal pillar. It seemed like every chance she got, she subconsciously looked towards it as if she were expecting it to disappear, just like everything else Fang had ever done or said. The statue of Cocoon was the last piece of evidence that reminded Lightning that she _had_ been real. Every moment and conversation they'd shared, every feeling, every kiss.. They'd all seemed too good to be true at the time, and now that it was gone. There was nothing to prove it except for the dull ache in her chest that came every time she thought of Fang's name.

As time progressed, it seemed like it was getting harder to get out of bed in the morning. At the beginning, Lightning almost half expected Fang to reappear. To show up in an odd place and apologize for taking so long to return. But with every day that passed, the likely hood of _that_ happening was dwindling. She had expected ever since she was younger that she'd end up alone, and it hadn't bothered her before. Now, she thought it would have been easier to have never become so infatuated with someone in the first place.

With a sigh(,) she headed towards the edge of town. Until a proper security system was established it was up to freelancers, such as herself, to make sure the feral creatures didn't make their way into the civilian's dwellings. It was mindless, repetitive work that she didn't even have to think about it. She didn't have to think about much at all this way.

She drew her blade and put her thoughts and emotions behind her and welcomed the numb oblivion that followed.

* * *

"Fang!" Vanille called in a whiny tone.

Fang frowned before opening her eyes. She could still feel the sand beneath her. As one eye came open, she could see that the sun was setting along the horizon. She sat up yawning before turning in search of Vanille.

"You can't sleep all day." Vanille said as she walked up to Fang, she was sopping wet. Apparently she'd been swimming.

"Sure I can." Fang said, smirking.

"Come here!" Vanille said holding out her hand. Fang took it and stumbled to her feet. She was led through some trees that seemed to lead away from the main front of Bodhum. They were walking along dirt now rather than sand.

"I found a new place to swim." Vanille said happily.

"Hmm?" Fang grunted, coming to what looked like a large hole in the ground filled to the edges with water. _Odd_. Fang bent down and took some of the water in her hand, smelling it. _Salty. _

"I thought it was a puddle." Vanille continued. "But turns out its really, really deep. I haven't even been able to touch the bottom yet!"

"Doesn't seem right.." Fang hummed. "Stick with the ocean from now on, yeah?"

Wouldn't that just be brilliant if Fang managed to lose her only company in crystal stasis somehow by disappearing into a mysterious puddle. Fang chuckled to herself.

She straightened up and stretched her arms above her head. An accompanied growl came to her stomach and she looked down oddly at the sound. It always seemed like hunger would be an odd thing to feel when you didn't even really_ have _to eat. This must be the brain's way of keeping yourself busy while you slept. Vanille followed her to a nearby cafe. Fang glanced up at the sun knowing it was physically impossible for it to be shining. Cocoon's sunlight was generated by the fal'Cie Phoenix, which would have perished after they'd destroyed Orphan. It was all the confirmation she needed to know that this must be a dream. But why would she be dreaming of an empty, unplugged Bodhum? Surely Lightning would be in her dream as well.. Why did it seem as though her mind was playing tricks on her?

They'd been scavenging from the remains that were in an old cafe since they'd gotten here. While most of the food had spoiled by now there was still drinks available and a few vegetables that hadn't started rotting yet. It didn't taste particularly great, but at least they could ward off the hunger for a little longer. Fang smirked to herself as she wondered if '_starvation_' could get her out of crystal stasis.

"So, what do you want to do today..?" Vanille asked as they walked down the coast line, a drink in hand.

Fang was just staring at the horizon. Strange how the sun disappeared beneath the water but could still be seen. The first night they were here, Fang had noticed it. It looked like the sun went under the ocean and lit the water up with a blue glow long after the sky had gone dark as if it was being lit from underneath the surface.

"Not much _to_ _do_ now, is there?" Fang sighed.

"We can explore." Vanille said hopefully. Keeping Fang awake was an achievement by itself, but keeping her in good spirits seemed impossible.

"What do you have in mind?" Fang grumbled.

Vanille pointed towards the huge bubble like structure that had been the site of the endless fireworks display that occurred in Bodhum once a year.

"I always wanted to know how that works." Vanille said, smiling.

Nodding, Fang agreed and they began heading in the direction of the display. With a grin, Fang hoped there was something to blow up.

* * *

Serah's eyes came open at the sound of the shutting door. It was pitch black in Lightning's room, she wondered how long she'd been asleep for. It wasn't her intention to fall asleep at all. The footsteps coming down the hallway sounded slow and labored. As her sisters shadow came into the room and began undressing, Serah's eyebrows pulled together with concerned. She looked absolutely exhausted, and it's not like she was working for anyone, she was working _herself _to the bone.

"It's like old times." Serah whispered, alerting Lightning to her consciousness.

"Mm." Lightning grunted. She sat on the side of the bed and began unbuckling her boots.

"Remember? I'd have to go to sleep early for school, and you'd always come in and check on me when you came home late." Serah continued somberly.

Lightning said nothing.

"You always thought I was asleep, but I could never sleep until I knew you were home." Serah said in a small voice.

With her feet free, Lightning stood up to remove her vest. Across Lightning's stomach, Serah could make out a significant laceration.

"You got hurt.." Serah said as Lightning lay down beside her.

"It's nothing." Lightning whispered. "Just got distracted."

_Yeah, drinking and fighting dangerous creatures can do that to a person._

Serah scooted closer and put her head on Lightning's shoulder. Lightning sighed and let her eyes close.

"I miss you.." Serah said.

"I miss you, too." Lightning said. She really did too. It felt good feeling another human's touch again, it had been a while.

"So.." Lightning started. "I don't know how to say this."

Serah sat up, biting her lip. "I didn't think you would..."

Lightning looked at Serah oddly.

"Listen, Claire, Snow knows some really nice guys... If you just gave them a _chance_.."

Lightning sat up too. "Excuse me?"

"Well, I thought you might be lonely.. I worry about that.. Isn't that what this is about?" Serah asked.

"No." Lightning said abruptly. "Not at all."

"Oh.." Serah said. "Well, if you ever need help.."

Lightning scoffed uncomfortably and laid back down. Was it really so obvious that _Serah _could tell she was lonely? The thought of dating was an impossibility to Lightning. It probably always would be.

"Sometimes, I think you blame me, Claire.." Serah sighed, laying down also.

"Blame you for what?" Lightning asked.

"You know, when Mom and Dad died, you had to.. grow up right then and there. You didn't really get to be.. a teenager. And-" Serah was cut off.

"I didn't lose anything because I took care of you.." Lightning said. "I'm fine. This isn't about _me_."

"Right.." Serah breathed "Sorry.."

Lightning ran a hand through her hair. This was _not_ going the way she wanted it to.

"It's about Mom and Dad." Lightning whispered, her eyes closed as her hand came to rest on her forehead.

"Hmm?" Serah hummed. Lightning rolled on her side to look Serah in the face.

"You're not going to like this." Lightning mumbled. "But you have to know."

"Okay.."

"Mom and Dad were... from this village."

Serah smirked. "How is that possible? No one's lived here for centuries."

"They were l'Cie. They came up on the vestige with Vanille and..." Lightning's throat prevented her from speaking the last name.

"How do you expect me to believe that?" Serah asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I've seen proof. Mom was.. pregnant with me when she turned crystal.." Lightning frowned in concentration. How would she prove it? The only shred of evidence that remained was locked away in a robot. A robot that was in her apartment at the moment but Lightning couldn't understand the control panel to navigate through it properly and she was deathly afraid of accidentally deleting something. "Her first name was Farron.."

"Claire, have you lost it?" Serah asked. Lightning gritted her teeth.

"No! It's true!" Furious, Lightning got up from the bed and went to her window where she could see the crystal pillar in the moonlight. The evidence was up _there_ somewhere. "F-Fang.. One of the Pulsians that was traveling with us, she has the same tattoo as me. The one Dad gave me.. It's a clan reference, we were from the same clan.."

Serah's face fell as she watched Lightning's silhouette lean against her window. Her sister really seemed to believe this. It was so far fetched but she would have to take her Lightning's word for it now. She lifted herself off of the bed and came to stand beside Lightning.

"You think I'm crazy." Lightning muttered.

"No.. I believe you." Serah said softly. "If you say it's true, then I have no reason to think you're lying to me.." She took Lightning's hand and stared up at her sister's face. "Is this what you've been so upset about?" Serah asked.

"No. I'm proud of who they were. I'm proud to be their daughter." Lightning said confidently. "When you can see the proof for yourself, you'll be proud too."

"So, what's wrong then?" Serah asked.

Lightning shook her head and continued to stare at Cocoon's shell. Serah followed her sister's eyes.

"You miss them.." Serah said softly.

"I just don't understand how everyone can just... move on with their lives when the two people that saved everyone's life are.. stuck." _Stuck._ They would have to be stuck. Lightning told herself that constantly in the hopes that if Fang _had_ a way to get back to her, she would without hesitation.

"Have you gone looking for them?" Serah asked.

"I.. looked at the whole pillar leading up to Cocoon, it's filled with water." Which was logical, the entire bottom of Cocoon was a vast ocean(.) If the shell was broken, it would certainly leak. That alone had told Lightning that the pillar that held the planet up was hollow. She hadn't seen any bodies floating in it which was a blessing. "I flew into the shell and.. there's nothing there anymore. " The floating cities had fallen out, leaving giant lacerations in Cocoon's shell. They could be seen from here even now. After a lap of the perimeter of pure emptiness Lightning had gotten sick to her stomach and left. _Imagine the people..._

"They cant just disappear.." Serah breathed.

"They're up there somewhere." Lightning said. _They had to be._ She felt Serah's arms come around her waist.

"You'll see them again.." Serah said in a comforting tone.

* * *

"Bingo." Fang grinned after breaking into a large shed. In the darkness, she and Vanille pulled out several crates. Using her lance, Fang pried them each open to reveal a plethora of different sized explosives in the shape of rockets and dynamite.

"This oughta keep us busy a while." Fang chuckled.

"I'll be the lighter!" Vanille said, sounding excited.

"Do your thing then." Fang said. Gripping the large bottle of an alcoholic beverage she had conjured from the cafe, she sat down. Vanille began lining up the fireworks by sinking their launching sticks into the sand.

The alcohol swimming through Fang's veins left her with a smug grin on her face. She felt warm despite the cool night air. She decided that no matter what happens from here on out, she might as well make the best of it. Being depressed about her situation wasn't going to wake her up any faster. Or, maybe, it was the alcohol that cheered her spirits.

"Ready?" Vanille squeaked.

"Yes'm." Fang grinned at her. Vanille had had probably more than she would normally drink as well. She'd always been told drunk people and fireworks didn't mix well, but what's the worst that could happen to them? It's only a dream.

Vanille lit the first fuse and stumbled back to stand beside Fang. They watched together as the flame crawled up to the base of the rocket, and at once, it took flight. When it exploded in the sky their faces were covered in the glow of the colors. Like magic, these fireworks were special. They seemed almost never ending. From just one rocket there was at least an entire minute of different shapes and colors exploding in every direction.

"Ooh!" Vanille crooned as the lights dazzled her eyes. She glanced down at Fang to see a grin forming on her face.

"Make a wish, Fang." Vanille said with a smirk.

"Hmm." Fang growled. Like it wasn't obvious what _that_ wish would be. She laid back and stared at the sky picturing Lightning's face amidst the colors. What she wouldn't give to even be able to see that just one more time. Her eye's slid closed as she begged for it internally. _Please..._

The last of the explosions had stopped. The silence was deafening. Fang's eyes opened to see a large cloud of smoke rising from where the blast had occurred.

"More." Fang said, with a soft smile up at Vanille. The girl giggled, bending down beside the next rocket. More than happy to oblige Fang's demand.

Oh, how she loved fireworks.

_Wishing fireworks_. Fang smirked.

_Wonder how many it'll take until it comes true. _


	12. Homecoming

**Sorry if its rough. Wanted it out ASAP It's been too long! I'm so sorry! Expect ongoing revisions until everything's fixed. And I've got to thank Rilora for the support, the ideas, and for saving the English language as we know it! What a legend!  
**

**By the way. More reviews = quicker updates. I'm just sayin' ;)  
**

* * *

A change in the weight on the mattress alerted Serah, even if it didn't bring her to an entirely alert state of consciousness. She heard the sounds though her brain did not immediately process them. A metal buckle. A zipper. Boots thudding the on the wooden floor? _Is she leaving?_

Serah forced herself out of the warm dreamlike state she was experiencing. Her eyes landing on Lightning who was getting dressed beside the bed. She wore an urgent expression on her face.

"Claire?" Serah said roughly, her voice was heavy with the sleep that bogged down her senses.

_No response._

Serah stood up dizzily, stumbling a bit across the room until she reached Lightning's figure. One of her small hands reached out for her.

"Go to sleep." Lightning breathed.

"Where are you going?" Serah whimpered.

_No response._

"Claire!" Serah pulled hard on her sisters arm.

Lightning stopped moving. She put her free hand on her waist and looked away from Serah.

"...I'm going to Cocoon." Lightning mumbled before pulling on a pair of jeans.

"What? Now?" Serah shrieked, now completely awake. "Why?"

"I saw something." Lightning said simply. "Go to sleep, I'll be home tomorrow. I'll check in at the bar so you know I'm okay."

_She's... seeing things now?_

Serah didn't have words for this. She was at her wits end with worry for her sister's odd behavior lately. A late night trip to Cocoon? This certainly took the cake. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she would be searching for mental help for her sister soon.

"What did you see..?" Serah's voice cracked unintentionally.

Lightning stopped to look at Serah face. "You _do_ think I'm crazy." She spoke firmly between her teeth.

"N-No.. What did you see? Show me.." Serah pleaded.

"Go to sleep." Lightning said before walking towards the door.

"Lightning!" Serah yelled. "If you go, I'll call Snow and we'll follow you!"

Lightning turned slowly to glare at Serah. The smaller girl backed away as Lightning made her advance.

"Come here." Lightning spat, gripping the back of Serah's neck to pull her towards the window. "Look." She pointed up at Cocoon.

Serah felt like crying. This seemed like the ultimate breaking point for her sister. She stared up at Cocoon and she was almost afraid to speak.

"...What am I supposed to be seeing, Claire..?" Serah's voice shook.

"Calm down, just wait.." Lightning breathed. She slid her arm from Serah's neck to her shoulder, immediately regretting the harsh action she'd taken. Serah's body immediately relaxed.

"There!" Lightning tensed. "See it?"

As the soft glow of color radiated from the lower half of Cocoon's shell, Lightning felt anxious again. She was ready to go. This was the first sign of life she'd seen from the dead visage of her home planet. Serah gasped.

"I'm not crazy." Lightning said, walking towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Wait." Serah said. "Let's go together. I wanna see what that is too."

"No." Lightning said, opening her front door. Serah ran after her.

"Fine. Have it your way." Serah walked out the door ahead of Lightning.

"Where are you _going_?" Lightning hissed.

"Going to wake up Snow." Serah said as she walked down the stairs that lead away Lightning's front door. Lightning looked mutinous. _Anything_ would be better than having _Snow_ tag along.

"Dammit, Serah! Fine. Get dressed." Lightning said as she threw her hands up. Serah always knew how to get her way. She fell onto the nearest couch and sat there staring out of the window as Serah disappeared back into the bedroom. The sky outside began growing lighter. Lightning's irritation spiked. In the daylight, it'd certainly be more difficult to find the source of the glow.

Serah came walking into the room fully dressed. It even looked like she'd put some effort into her hair. Lightning rolled her eyes.

"We're going to Cocoon, not a high school dance, you know.." Lightning grumbled as she got up and led the way to the door. Serah laughed. She kept her mouth shut but in all honesty she'd never seen Lightning show this much skin before. Granted it was jeans and a jacket, but her stomach was showing from the low cut t-shirt she had on underneath it. Come to think of it, Serah hadn't seen Lightning out of her uniform for as long as she could remember. As she got onto the back of the bike, though, she realized that Lightning would probably never wear that uniform again. There was no meaning to it anymore.

As they ascended into the heavens together, Serah's fear of heights got the better of her. She more or less burrowed her head into the back of Lightning's shoulder blade and closed her eyes for the remainder of the trip. It wasn't until the movement stopped that she opened her eyes. Lightning had stopped mere inches from the outside of Cocoon's shell, apparently where she thought the light was coming from. Bizarre to see Cocoon up close like this, Serah thought, but then she looked down and got incredible dizzy. She burrowed her head once more.

"We'll probably have to go in." Serah grumbled.

Lightning frowned as she thought. She had been here before, and while the walls were far too blurry to see through this close, she knew there wasn't a whole lot to be seen inside the shell. But seeing it up close now she realized that the source of light might have been somewhere near Bodhum used to be. _That_ was somewhere she hadn't looked for.

"Right." Lightning said. Excitement ran through her as she pulled away from the globe to find a sizable gash in Cocoon to enter. The sun had broken free of the mountains and Lightning was surprised to find out that now that Cocoon was crystal the light from Pulse's sun was illuminating what was left of her home world. If the floating land masses that made for the different cities of Cocoon had not crashed through the walls towards Pulse below, it might even still be habitable. She let the bike drift into an almost vertical drop as she headed towards the bottom of the sphere, pulling the bike level again only right before submerging in the ocean. Serah did not _thank_ her for that maneuver.

As they rode along the water towards the opposite wall of Cocoon, it appeared that the sun had finally become level with the shell, and Lightning saw her second sunrise of the day. Her eyes went wide, certainly if there was a sun here people could survive, no? By the looks of things now, probably not. Unless they could tread water for two months straight.

_Fang is too strong to die from drowning.._.

"Claire! Look!" Serah yelled, actually standing up on the back of the bike and pointing ahead. There was land and as they got closer it all became very familiar to them.

"It's Bodhum!" Serah shouted happily. "Claire! It's Bodhum, look!"

Lightning said nothing. Her mouth hung slightly open at the site of it. Mostly unscathed, yet darker than usual and completely void of any human life it seemed. The possibilities were endless if _Bodhum_ had survived...

She landed along the shore as soon as she possibly could. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins as the two sisters clambered off of the bike and wandered ever closer to the buildings. It was as if they were unable to absorb the fact that their hometown had survived mostly undamaged.

"We can get some of our things back.." Serah said happily, approaching where Lightning's apartment had been. _Clothes.._

"Yeah." Lightning said, interested as well to see her apartment again. It was dark inside of the building. The only light came from the windows as there was no electricity. Lightning had to use force to open up her door, as it was also electric. After prying her blade into the hinge and forcing the door open, ultimately breaking it, they entered the living to find most of the things had been tipped over or otherwise thrown across the living room. Book shelves were tipped over, their contents emptied onto the carpet. Broken glass was sparking from the ground. The curtains had been shaken off of their rods. It looked like the place had just gone through an extremely large earthquake.

Lightning covered her mouth as she stared at all of her possessions, all of her hard work, lying broken on her living room floor. She heard crunching footsteps as Serah made her way across the glass strewn floor towards her bedroom. Lightning followed suit slowly, heading into her own bedroom instead.

Her bed was still made. The pictures on her nightstand, as well as the nightstand itself, had toppled over. She bent over to pick it up, carefully pulling out the pictures of her parents so as to not cut them on the jagged glass that encased them. Pictures are priceless, irreplaceable. _These _were the sort of things she would want to take with her. She opened the door to her closet and looked through her wardrobe. It was vastly dominated by uniforms rather than regular civilian clothing. Had she really let her job consume her life so much that she only had a handful of outfits that would fit her now? She frowned. She had so much dedication to that lost cause..

At the bottom of her closet, her eyes landed on a large box. A smile came to her lips as she knelt down to take the top off. _Ammunition_, enough to last a lifetime. She would obviously have to come back for this with a more stable vessel. It wouldn't be safe to carry this many live rounds on the back of a bike. She found a small handgun she had used as a sidearm before she was given her gun blade. She pulled the clip out to see it was still fully loaded. One in the barrel. Smirking, she put the safety on and slid it into the back of her jeans._ Memories. _

"Claire? How much do you think we can carry?" Serah called from her bedroom.

Sighing, Lightning stood up and crossed the hallway to lean against Serah's door frame. It looked like the younger sister had already packed three bags full of nonsense. "We can't carry that much Serah, not in the little compartment on the bike. It wouldn't be safe to carry all those bags, we can come back later, though."

"Yeah, we're going to have to." Serah smiled.

"C'mon, I want to check out the rest of the island." Lightning said.

Reluctantly, and staring longingly at her things, Serah followed Lightning back outside again. The walked along the boardwalk, noticing that none of the other buildings seemed to have been disturbed. It was odd how such a familiar place could seem so vastly different. There was no tide coming in, no rolling waves. The ocean seemed calmer than it ever had before. And the sun coming through the crystal at this angle seemed oddly fuzzy, almost blurred.

They passed building after building, peering into the windows and not finding any evidence that anyone had been here recently. A lone uprooted palm tree got Lightning's attention and she followed it off of the path. There was a large hole in the ground, it almost looked like the tree had been forced out of the ground completely. This hole was filled to the brim with water, and it was rather large around. It had never been here before.

"What's this?" Serah asked.

"Don't know." Lightning breathed, kneeling down beside it. She ran her hand along the lip of the hole under the water. It felt hard, smooth, cold. As if it were intentionally paved into the earth. _Crystal...?_

_Oh..._

Lightning looked up at Serah, shrugging. The smaller girl started walking again towards the boardwalk and Lightning's eyes followed her lazily, landing on her feet. _She's wearing.. shoes._

Lightning gasped. Serah's head turned around quickly. "What?"

Along the muddy dirt besides the mysterious pool, there was footprints. _Bare_, human footprints. Serah followed her sisters eyes until she saw them as well.

"Oh.." Serah's eyes went wide. Lighting stood abruptly and began stomping along beside the trail left behind by.. _someone._

"Be careful, that could be anyone. Someone bad, too." Serah said, struggling to keep up with Lightning's pace. The soldier's face was beyond serious at this point. She looked strained, halfway between a heart attack and an aneurysm. The doors of Lebreau's old cafe were pried open. The refrigerator and pantries had been raided quite recently.

"Someone's here.." Serah breathed.

"Stay close." Lightning said. Finding no more evidence, she headed back outside again. Her eyes scanned the coast line, landing on nothing in particular. Her imagination was running wild. It made strange sense to her. If that hole was the origin of the pillar that held Cocoon up as she suspected it was... _Then they came here, hungry... Then where? _

Serah walked a bit further down the long row of stores at the beach front. Lightning's face contorted with concentration. It appeared _whoever_ came out of that hole went into the cafe, where their feet dried. There was no more wet mud to cement their footsteps, no more trail to follow. Lightning folded her arms and let out a frustrated noise.

"Claire, this window's broken." Serah called to her sister. Lightning jogged to where Serah was standing. She frowned, there was no open door here, it just looked like the window hadn't made it through the seismic event. It was a rather dark book shop. She pulled her gun blade from is holster and willed it to take its saber form so she could clear away the remaining hanging glass before she climbed inside. What had caused the window to break? It was chaos inside, she had to be careful not to trip over fallen books and various other pieces of furniture. Just when she was about to give up and assume the window had broken from she jolt, her eyes landed on something out of place.

"Serah.." Lightning whispered, coming to the broken window. She was holding up a completely charred rocket shell. She met her sisters eyes and in that very moment comprehension flooded through her. "Firework.." she said. Her eyes drifting over Serah's shoulder towards the large bubble where the yearly spectacle took place. _The glowing light.._

With a sharp gasp of breath Lightning climbed through the window again and came to a full out sprint immediately across the sand towards it. She could hear Serah calling her name behind her, but she ignored it. This may be the answer to all of her prayers. The uneven ground didn't hold her down, she pushed herself to run even faster. Her breathing was frantic, almost hysterical. It was probably wrong of her to allow herself to get so excited when it might not even be _her _that she finds, but she was beyond help at this point. Her mind had gotten the best of her. It seemed like every bit of evidence pointed towards her biggest desire.

She climbed the last that separated the regular beach from the quarantined area where they would typically light the fireworks.

She lost her breath.

_There she is.._

_Fang.._

Sleeping. Her sari was serving the purpose of a pillow. Vanille was a few feet away with her thumb in her mouth.

"Too good to be true.." Lightning whispered, her thoughts escaping through her lips. Her last few labored steps were tired from the mad dash she'd just made. Her knees fell beside Fang's sleeping form before she cradled Fang's head with her hand.

Fang groaned before her eyes rolled open. There was a sharp pain in her head from the abrupt movement. Her eyes came into focus while she was swearing off drinking for the rest of her life.

"Fang.." Lightning whispered, shaking her again. Fang's eyes landed on Lightning with gentle surprise. She grinned.

"Knew you'd show up eventually." Fang said roughly. Lightning was staring at her with a desperate look on her face, drinking in every one of Fang's beautiful expressions.

"Is this real?" Lightning whispered.

"Nah." Fang said as she sat up. She reached out to touch Lightning's face kindly. "But I'll find a way to wake up."

Lightning went pink. Why was shyness the overwhelming feeling she felt right now? "I'm no dream.." She whispered, looking away.

"Look around you." Fang said, with a solemn smile. "Everything about this place is a dream. Bodhum can't exist anymore. And even if it did the sun couldn't possibly be shining in Cocoon. You don't know how good it is to see you though.." Fang smiled.

Lightning cocked her head to one side. _She really thinks she's dreaming?_ The soldier looked around at the surrounding area, mildly confused. "Fang, you're not.."

"I'll wake up someday though, I only hope you're still around when I do." Fang said.

"No.. You're not sleeping anymore, Fang." Lightning said, though the weird things Fang was saying was making her doubt her own existence.

"Maybe not, but I'm still a crystal." Fang said certainly.

Lightning stared at her, her eyes narrowing. "No.. I'm pretty sure you're not a crystal either.."

"Listen.." Fang started, staring back at Lightning just as seriously. "I don't know how long you're going to stick around, I don't want to spend it arguing with you.."

"Fang." Lightning pointed out to the sky. "That's.. not Phoenix, you know? That's the Pulsian sun. I saw it rise twice on the way here."

Fang's eyes went wide.

"I'm not dreaming, and you're not dreaming." Lightning said. "You were lighting fireworks weren't you? I saw them from Oerba.."

"No way.." Fang breathed. She gripped a fist full of sand and threw it towards Vanille. "Vanille, wake up!"

Vanille made a most unsatisfied sound.

"I've been awake this whole time?" Fang asked, rising to her feet. "How long has it been?"

"Couple of months.." Lightning said, standing up also.

"Vanille." Fang knelt own beside her and shook her awake. _A couple of months, that sounds right..._ "We're alive."

"What?" The small girl opened one eye and yawned. Fang turned back to Lightning.

"You survived then.." Fang said, a smile growing pronounced on her face as she turned back to Lightning.

"Yeah." Lightning said. "A lot of people did because of you.."

Laughing, Fang pulled Lightning into a tight hug. "Boy, do I feel like an idiot!" Fang said heartily. The warmth of Fang's body was running through Lightning and for the first time in the last two months she felt like herself again. She allowed her body to shape to Fang's contently.

"Serah!" Vanille called happily.

Fang's eyes landed on the younger Farron without letting go of Lightning. She smiled kindly at the girl who seemed to be taking a guarded interest in her. Lightning did nothing. She knew her sister was in for one big surprise right about now, and it would be easier to not make eye contact with Serah.

"And that's why I didn't want you becoming Ragnarok.." Fang rumbled into Lightning shoulder. Lightning turned pink. Fang put herself in danger for Lightning, without even being asked. _Selfless.._

"I knew I'd see you again!" Vanille said cheerfully, throwing her arms around Serah and breaking her free of her deep thoughts.

Fang took this opportunity to walk Lightning away for a bit more privacy. Her feet dipped into the water along the coast line before she stopped.

"Are you mad at me..?" Fang asked with a smirk.

"Not anymore.." Lightning said. "I know why you did what you did now.. I would have done the same thing for you."

"I know.." Fang smiled. "It wasn't your place, though."

Lightning only nodded. She stared up into Fang's eyes that, despite looking incredibly tired, were so vibrantly bright green they took her breath away. Fang seemed tanner and thinner than she was before.

"I was so worried.." Lightning muttered.

Fang took Lightning's hands and wrapper them around her own neck, smiling as she let her own hands slide around Lightning's waist.

"Don't let that stress you out anymore. It's over. We've got all the time in the world now." Fang spoke gloriously.

_All the time in the world._

What a stark contrast to everything they'd gone through together. It always felt rushed before, but now maybe they could even have a title. _Girlfriend. _Perhaps Lightning would introduce Fang with that word at some sort of social function eventually. Would she be right in saying so? Without imminent danger and threats on their lives around every corner they would be just like a regular couple, and that was something that Lightning had never experienced before. The thought of it made her nervous. There was nothing about Fang that was remotely normal or bland, and that was always how Lightning had seen relationships before.

Fang was staring at Lightning's face. She had the cute 'I'm-thinking-so-hard-it-hurts' expression on her face that Fang adored.

"I love you.." Fang said softly. "Remember? I was.. supposed to tell you.."

Serah smiled kindly at Vanille, remembering just how kind the girl was back when they'd first met on this beach.

"I'm so glad you're okay.." Serah said, smiling back at her. Serah let her eyes roam back to Lightning. Certainly, she'd never seen her sister stare at someone with so much... what was it? Admiration? Fascination?

"So.. that's Fang, huh?" Serah asked suspiciously.

"Yep!" Vanille said, following Serah's eyes. "Aw, they're cute, aren't they?"

"Cute?" Serah asked, her eyes growing wide. _Cute? She's talking like they're a.. _

She stared harder. It was an expression Serah had never seen before on Lightning's face. It clicked in her mind then.

"A couple.." Serah breathed, her thoughts escaping her. Her mouth lolled open in amazement.

"They make a good one, hey?" Vanille asked, smiling.

"All this time.." Serah started. She was interrupted when Lightning kissed Fang with so much fervor that the shock of seeing it temporarily stunted Serah's ability to speak.

"Ooh.." Vanille giggled.

"All this time she was _lovesick_..?" Serah asked, dumbstruck.

Vanille smirked, assuming the question to be rhetorical.

Lightning broke the kiss softly, keeping her eyes closed as her head came to rest against Fang's.

"I.. love you, too.." She replied in a shaky voice.

* * *

Lightning pulled up to the bar in Oerba and immediately felt relieved. She knew she was carrying entirely too many people for this little bike. Serah climbed off the bike and bit her lip looking at Lightning. Lightning rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Maybe you should come in and say hi!" Serah said happily towards Vanille.

"Do they serve food in there?" Fang asked.

"Are you hungry?" Lightning asked.

"Yes." Serah answered.

"Starving." Fang chuckled.

"They serve food!" Serah announced happily.

"I've got food at home." Lightning said, glaring at Serah.

"I'm hungry, too!" Vanille whimpered.

Lightning turned around and muttered. "I'll make you guys something to eat."

"You're no fun, Light!" Serah whined.

"Another time." Lightning muttered. "They're probably tired." Fang agreed, nodding with a smirk.

Serah bit her lip again, her expression was calculating. "Why don't you come with me Vanille, you can stay the night with Snow and I." Serah grinned, winking at Lightning. An action that didn't go unnoticed by Fang, who's eyebrows shot up to her forehead. Lightning shook her head.

When Serah reached the entrance, she turned around to give a very happy thumbs up as she held the door open for Vanille.

"Cute sister." Fang said, full of amusement. "I like the way she thinks."

"Shut up." Lightning growled.

She revved the bike to life hastily and headed down the street where her house was. As she entered her house she removed her arms, the gunblade and handgun both landing on the couch before led the way into the kitchen. She lit a few candles as she went by as it was the only source of light available in the entire village at the moment. She held her cabinets open for Fang to look in also.

"Whatever you want, I'll make it for you." Lightning said.

"Cooking by candlelight. How romantic." Fang grinned. "I guess this is kind of like our first date, huh?"

Lightning paused. _Way to make me more nervous._

Fang's arms snacked around Lightning's front. Her nose landed against the back of Lightning's head.

"You smell so good." Fang hummed softly. Her warm breath crashing against the back of Lightning's neck.

Lightning's knees buckled. Fang was standing in her _kitchen_, it felt so surreal. She turned around in Fang's arms only to find herself crushed against the nearby wall in a passionate kiss. Her breath was taken away.

Everything Fang was holding back on the beach was coming out. Out of respect she had resisted before, in front of Serah. Now, her hands explored her lover freely. Hungrily, she kissed Lightning deeper, Fang's hand sliding to Lightning's thigh to pull it aside. She positioned her waist between Lightning's legs only to feel closer to her amazing body. Lightning moaned softly into her mouth, out of pure surprise. Was she going to be _taken_ in the kitchen? When she felt Fang's hips come into contact with her own, she bit down on Fang's lower lip, hard, though it wasn't intentional.

Fang pulled away at once, letting Lightning's leg drop, they stood there for a moment catching their breath. A few beats passed.

"Sorry.." Lightning sputtered.

"No. I'm sorry.." Fang said softly, staring at Lightning's face that was mostly covered by her hair and slightly tilted downward. The parts that weren't covered were flushed bright red.

"So. I've got some meat and and I can make a stir fry. It won't take long." Lightning said quickly escaping to light the stove. _A convenient excuse_. _Pansy.._

"Sounds good." Fang said, walking across the kitchen to lean on the opposite counter and watch Lightning. She couldn't hide the smirk on her face. _The soldier wants to play shy_. The last thing Fang wanted to do was come on too strong. After all the time that had passed, and the circumstance in which they were apart, it seemed inappropriate now to pick up right where they'd left off before. And that was perfectly okay with Fang. _Start fresh, start new. _

The fresh start didn't seem to compromise the sleeping arrangements in the end, though. Lightning fell asleep in Fang's arms that night, and was perfectly content to do that every night after. Without a care in the world, Lightning slept with more grace and ease than she had since before her parent's died. The only one thing she was even mildly worried about was Fang adapting into this new world that she was already used to. A famous figure, Fang was, even though she didn't know it yet. The beast that everyone on Cocoon had been raised to fear was now known as the entity the saved mankind. How would Fang react to that?

Unless they didn't leave the house tomorrow, she'd probably find out then.

Then again, Lightning had no objection to wasting an entire day alone with Fang.

Doing absolutely nothing.

* * *

**If you guys really think I can get away with a T rating, I'll keep it clean from here on out and then do a one shot later to accompany this. Is that a bad idea? :P **


	13. Sisterly Advice at an Unseen Price

She wore a stupid grin as she ran her fingertips over her lover's body. So as not to wake her, Lightning movements were soft and very slow. She woke first, and much to her pleasure, found Fang still sleeping next to her. It hadn't been a dream, after all. She remembered falling asleep facing away from her but when she woke up she was clinging to her, like her subconscious had taken over at some point during the night and demanded more closeness. Even better, the comforter they were sleeping under seemed to had gone mysteriously missing, leaving Fang's half dressed body on display. She began thinking about what had brought her to this very point in her life, and just how very inexperienced and unprepared she was for it.

A love life. A _girlfriend_? How did this happen? This whole relationship thing seemed so much easier to Lightning when her very existence was in peril. Now, the biggest of her worries would be being a good girlfriend, and what did that even mean? Fang always seemed to know exactly what to say to take Lightning's breath away. Lightning only wanted to be able to make Fang just as happy, but they had never taught her how to be_ romantic_ in the Guardian Corps. She'd gotten Fang back, but now she had to worry about keeping her, now and that Fang was the savior of mankind Lightning was sure there were many others that would be more than willing to take her place if she couldn't keep Fang satisfied. But Lightning didn't know the first thing about _pleasing_ her.

She wanted to be able to make the girl melt the same way Fang made her, from a simple smile or something sweet she'd said. It all seemed to come naturally to Fang. Even now, as Lightning ran a hand up Fang's well toned calf, she realized that the woman was incredible sexy without even being conscious to realize it. How do you compete with _that_? Lightning eyed Fang's tan complexion and then glanced down at her own pale body wondering what on earth she could possibly see in her.

_Those thighs.._

_The strong, shapely shoulders.._

_A flat delicious stomach..._

_The soft, enticing lips that were almost permanently shaped into a smirk..._

No, Lightning was long past denying her sexuality. She was definitely attracted to Fang. Physically.. _sexually.._ and so much more.. Lightning closed her eyes and let her lips drag against Fang's shoulder roughly.

"What are you thinking about?" Fang asked flatly. Lightning jumped at the sudden sound. Fang chuckled deeply at the muddled expression on Lightning's face.

_Caught in the act. _

"Nothing." Lightning finally answered, scooting closer to Fang.

"Don't lie to me." Fang growled as she pulled Lightning on top of her. Lightning fell flatly against her. Flesh to flesh, body to body, Fang felt incredible. Lightning _loved_ how she was strong enough to move her around against her will..

"Fang.." Lightning sighed quite happily with her new position, but she was interrupted when Fang kissed her tenderly, she momentarily lost her train of thought completely.

"Mm..?" Fang grunted, breaking the kiss as she ran a hand through Lightning's hair. "Wait. Did you make breakfast?" Fang continued before Lightning could answer.

"Um.. No not yet. What do you want?" Lightning said, sitting up.

"Someone's already made it.." Fang looked oddly at Lightning. "Can't you smell that?"

_Oh. But how did I miss that and who..? Serah.. Of course. She's checking up._

"Probably my sister." Lightning rolled her eyes. Fang grinned.

"Good. I'd like to get to know her better." Fang said as she stood and wrapped the bottom half of her sari around herself.

"Don't.. say anything about being Pulsian to her. Snow doesn't know yet. And we need to show her Bhakti too. I don't think she believes me." Lightning said, standing up.

"Right. Got it." Fang said, glancing over at Lightning. "Ready?"

"Yep."

"Let me fix your hair a bit." Fang grinned. "We don't want her jumping to conclusions, do we?"

Lightning stared at Fang's face while the taller woman neatly swept her hair into place. Lightning pondered Fang's rhetorical question with an air of amusement. Would it be so bad if someone assumed she had been _Fang's_ prey the night before? No.. probably not.

It was a simple gesture Fang was doing by fixing her hair., but it was so thoughtful. As if Fang knew that it was awkward for Lightning to be prancing around with a girlfriend for the first time in front of her sister. _Girlfriend.._

"Fang..?" Lightning asked before she could stop herself.

"Yes?"

"Are.. I mean.. Would I call you my.. girlfriend?" Lightning shut her eyes, feeling incredibly stupid for how awkward that had come out.

Fang grinned broadly. "Would you like to?"

"Yeah.. I mean.. if you.." Lightning stuttered.

Fang cocked her head to one side and talked over Lightning. "Can I ask you something?"

Lightning opened her eyes.

"Have ya ever had a girlfriend?" Fang asked. "..Or a boyfriend?"

"I.. No." Lightning said. Her shoulders slumped a little. _Why hasn't she answered yet..?_

"Really?" Fang's eyebrows raised.

Lightning nodded.

"How come?" Fang asked.

"I don't know. I didn't know I could be attracted to women.. I mean never.. and Serah always said I intimidated the boys.." Lightning spoke slightly disconnected. "I'm not... broken or anything."

"I know you're not." Fang smiled. "Is this what was buggin ya?"

"I guess.." Lightning said. Fang placed her hands on Lightning's shoulders.

"You want to make it official? Exclusive? Would that make you feel better?" Fang asked softly.

"I think so." Lightning half smiled.

"Alright. You better not turn me down." Fang smirked. "Can I be your first girlfriend, Claire?" Fang gave Lightning a cheesy smile.

Lightning bit her lip. "Yes.." She said softly. She had trouble looking at Fang without blinking rapidly.

Fang placed a small kiss on Lightning's forehead as a low chuckle tickled her throat. Lightning had absolutely no reason to lie to Fang, but Fang had trouble believing that no one, until now, had broken Lightning's barriers before. _A beautiful thing like that...?_ She turned for the stairs following the smell of fresh breakfast cooking.

Lightning stared after Fang, taking a deep breath when she was out of sight. She could hear her ears ringing.

"You alright?" Snow asked, putting a concerned hand on Serah's back. Serah was facing the oven tending to a hot pan of bacon.

"I'm fine. It passed." Serah muttered.

"Good morning. That smells wonderful." Fang said happily. As she came into the kitchen Snow broke into a radiant smile.

"Hey!" He yelled, overly happy to see his long lost comrade. Under this diversion Lightning stormed into the kitchen, pushing Serah on the shoulder to alert her presence.

"Breaking into my house?" Lightning growled.

"Relax." Serah sighed. "You left the door unlocked. Snow wanted to see Fang and I thought I'd make breakfast."

Lightning glared at Serah for her irritated tone. Because the oven was lit it was sweltering hot in the kitchen, so Lightning made her way to the backdoor that she usually opened when she was cooking.

"Ah. I wouldn't open that..." Vanille warned softly.

"Why..?" Lightning started. This got Snow's attention.

"Serah got a little sick. She kind of threw up on your patio but don't worry I'm gonna clean it up after breakfast." Snow explained.

_That explains her attitude.._

"Are you sick..?" Lightning murmured to Serah, standing beside her again. Fang smiled inwardly at how fast Lightning can go from irritated, to concerned sister.

"No. It was just the smell of the raw food, I got nauseated." Serah hummed, looking over her shoulder to see Fang talking closely with the others. Lightning frowned, never having seen her kitchen so busy before.

"So.. how was your night..?" Serah smiled sideways at Lightning.

Lightning's eyes narrowed. "You're so nosy."

"I'm allowed to be, I'm your sister." Serah quipped, glancing over to the living room. "All the furniture seems intact.."

Lightning gritted her teeth.

"We'll talk later." Serah snickered, her grin growing considerably wider as Fang came up behind her sister to steal a long hug. Lightning smiled softly at the intrusion.

Serah used this time to appraise Fang surreptitiously, and, much to her chagrin, it didn't take long for Fang to notice.

"Hello." Fang smiled kindly at the younger Farron. She looked just as curious of her as Serah did of Fang. "I'm Fang. I don't think we've been properly introduced."

"Serah.." Serah said softly, noticing now for the first time just how green Fang's eyes were.

_Yun Serah,_ Fang amended mentally.

"Sorry to hear you were feeling under the weather this morning." Fang consoled.

"Thanks, but I'm alright." Serah smiled, handing a plate of food to Fang. She had to admit, for a woman, it seemed Lightning bagged a knockout. _Who knew?_

"Ah that reminds me.." Fang said as she sat at the table. "Is it Serah Villiers, yet?"

"Erm.. No." Serah said. "We've decided we're going to wait til next year.. Give everyone some time to settle into their new places and such."

"Excellent, I haven't missed it then." Fang winked at Snow.

"Ah, yeah." Serah grinned. "And now I don't have to find a date for Lightning. Worked out perfectly."

Lightning scoffed and sat between Vanille and Fang.

Fang put a hand on Lightning's knee and smiled at her. "Still seems odd using silverware again." Fang muttered, taking a bite of her eggs. Serah chuckled, catching them holding hands under the table.

"So, here's the plan..." Serah said, clapping her hands together.

_Plan?_ Lightning winced.

"Sazh is letting us use his airship. He'll be picking us up in about an hour and taking us to Bodhum." Serah said.

_Damn._

"You probably don't want to go back there already, huh?" Lightning asked Fang.

"Well if you're going to be there I'd normally be fine to go anywhere you are.." Fang grinned. "But actually um.. Vanille and I were going to get assimilated to New Oerba while you guys were gone."

"Alright." Lightning said, slumping a bit. She expected to spend the day with Fang, and this sort of seemed like the exact opposite but she really needed to take advantage of the opportunity to get her things back.

"And we'll meet up at the bar for dinner?" asked Serah.

"Yep. Sounds good." Fang said, putting an arm around Lightning.

Serah smiled, and pulled on Snow's trench coat. "Let's go clean up that patio."

"I got it, babe." Snow said, standing up.

Serah followed him out anyway, with a backward glance at Lightning who was, at this moment, scooting closer to Fang.

* * *

"So.. how did this happen?" Serah asked, sitting on Lightning's bed in her apartment. She had a pile of pictures to go through that were spread around on the bed. Lightning was sitting in her closet going through boxes. She was slightly irritated. Serah had simply told Snow that she wanted most of everything in her room and he had been doing all the work for her, leaving her with nothing to do but assist Lightning.

"Don't know." Lightning muttered.

"Yes you do.." Serah said, sounding annoyed. "Come on, we're sisters. We're supposed to talk about this stuff. You know.. 'girl talk'."

"We've _never_ done that." Lightning said flatly.

"I know. I feel so deprived." Serah lamented. "My big sister is going through something really big in her life and look at me, all shut out." She sighed.

Lightning narrowed her eyes and threw the box aside, pulling out another one.

"Not even a warning either." Serah giggled. "Wanna know what it was like for me?"

Lightning stopped what she was doing to glare at Serah.

"Oh. Claire's running. Where is she going?" Serah sat up on her knees and mocked herself running after Lightning. She brought her hand up to her forehead as if she were blocking out the sun. "Look! It's Vanille! Oh that's sweet!" Serah tried to look horrified. "Oh no! That woman's devouring my sister's face!"

"Shut up." Lightning hissed. She threw a shoe at Serah, who ducked, and fell back against the bed laughing.

"I'm glad you think this is funny.." Lightning grumbled.

"It's not.." Serah rolled onto her side. "I just don't understand why you didn't tell me."

"What good would that have done?" Lightning said. "'Hey Serah, I met someone, but there's a good chance I'll never see her again.' I didn't want _pity_.."

"Well, at least that way I wouldn't have been trying to set you up with _men_!" Serah said, exasperated. "Listen, We're family, and I'm the _only_ family you have left. We're supposed to be there for each other. Each other." Serah emphasized, "It goes both ways.."

Lightning learned her head against the wall and stared at Serah, defeated.

"You didn't think I'd be upset about you.. liking girls did you?" Serah asked in a small voice.

"No.." Lightning said rolling her eyes. "You know I'm not good at.. this." _This_ being expressing her feelings, she even found it difficult to say _that_. She knew Serah would understand, though.

"Better practice." Serah said, picking up a picture. "Relationships are all about expressing yourself."

Lightning silently disagreed. It seemed Fang could always guess what she was thinking or feeling. But there was one thing she couldn't deny. Serah definitely knew more about relationships than she did. She had had a feeling she was going to end up regretting this..

"Serah.. how do you keep someone.. happy?" Lightning said in a small voice.

Serah smiled softly. "She seems pretty happy to me, Claire."

"Yeah, but I want to _keep_ her.."

"She couldn't even keep her hands off of you long enough to eat breakfast, I don't think you need to worry about that."

"You don't understand." said Lightning.

"Then tell me." Serah said. She'd been quite sneaky about crossing the room to sit beside her sister during this conversation. Lightning frowned in thought. "Ugh. Come on just say what you're thinking. I'm not going to make fun of you." Serah put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"She.. can do something and it makes it hard to think. To speak." Lightning stuttered. "I don't know how she does it. I wish I could do it to her too. She makes me feel incredible sometimes.. I never really know what to say to her."

"Aww.." Serah crooned. "She seems really sweet."

"She is." Lightning said, half smiling.

"Just be yourself, it's worked so far. I think you're over thinking this." Serah mused. "She seems quite smitten as it is.."

That's all fine, Lightning thought, but what about sex? Lightning frowned, knowing that she would be physically unable to ask Serah something so embarrassing. What would she know about women anyway? She shook the thought from her head.

"I just wish I could return the favor.. you know?" Lightning said, putting the top back on a box. Pleased with the progress she made in her closet, she stood up.

Serah grinned up at her sister coyly, "Well, there might be _something_ we can do. You know the bar can get pretty loud at night, we'd better make sure you have her undivided attention."

Lightning stared at Serah. _ Did she say 'we'?_ The excited smile on her sisters face looked almost sinister in Lightning's eyes. Ominous. But she would trust her sister's judgment.

For once.

* * *

In all her years in Oerba Fang had never seen such a large amount of people coming together to celebrate nothing but the consumption of alcohol. She was pleasantly surprised to find that people actually knew who she was and what she had done. The free drinks seemed never ending, she'd lost track of how many people had many people had bought them for her. The bartender was friendly enough, a recognizable face she'd met before in Bodhum. She greeted Fang with a kiss on the cheek when she found out she'd been one half of the force that stopped Cocoon from crashing into and obliterating Gran Pulse. She spent most of her evening, however, keeping strange men from approaching Vanille.

It got much easier when Snow showed up. The NORA that gravitated towards him formed a human shield around the girls at the table and Fang felt comfortable enough to do more than just sip at her drinks. He said he had left the Farron sisters at the house to unpack and that they would be along soon but time seemed to stretch on without a sign of her and her vision had begun to grow more and more blurry. The loud sounds of the packed bar became melted into a white noise background.

Vanille looked amused as she surveyed Fang's inebriated expression. Slightly glazed as well, she found herself reveling in the new found attention. It seemed as though everything was falling into place. Her eyes fell lazily upon a rather attractive looking man at the bar who was smiling at her.

It wasn't much longer until Serah showed up, throwing herself into Snow's arms enthusiastically. She came with a few more members of NORA, Fang assumed, glancing towards the door lazily and wondering where Lightning was.

"Hello beautiful." Snow said with a grin, pulling Serah onto his lap. His eyes went to one of Serah's companions and grew to a huge size. "Wow." He whispered.

Serah looked rather pleased with herself before looking at Fang, who was still looking towards the door. "Um.. Fang?"

Fang hadn't heard Serah over the crowd of people.

"Wow.." Vanille gaped. She nudged Fang, who looked back at them slightly harassed.

Everybody was staring at her for some reason.

"What..?" asked Fang, blinking a few times to focus her eyes. "Where's your sister?"

Serah's eyes went wide as she giggled, looking at Snow, who grinned. She looked back at Fang and pointed her head meaningfully to the side.

Fang followed her movement, her eyes landing on a beautiful woman standing beside her. As they focused, a shock ran through her as she realized who it was. She stood abruptly, swaying dizzily from the quick action. Lightning stood beside her awkwardly, but she didn't look much like herself. The short black dress she was wearing clung her body, accentuating every single one of her curves. The heels she was wearing gave the impression that her legs went on for days, they also brought her almost to eye level with Fang, who was currently gawking at her girlfriend.

Her eyes finally made it up to Lightning's shy face. Even in the low light of the bar she could tell Lightning's face was painted. Dark makeup around her eyes made them shine through the darkness like bright blue beacons. While she stared absurdly into Lighting's eyes words failed her. She was frozen to the spot. She suddenly felt dizzy again, but this time it had nothing to do with the alcohol. Everything about her appearance tonight dripped with sex appeal. Lightning blushed at the way Fang was looking at her, her head falling down an infinitesimal amount.

"You.. look incredible.." Fang breathed.

Lightning recognized the thick smell of alcohol on Fang's breath as she spoke. "You look drunk." said Lightning, smirking. Fang smiled sheepishly.

"Here, sit. I'll go get you a drink.." Fang said enthusiastically.

Lightning glanced at the table, noticing this would be the last available chair. "No. I'll stand." She said softly. "You sit."

"Sit." Fang insisted, putting an arm around Lightning to ease her into it. She didn't budge. Serah rolled her eyes and got to her feet. She pushed Fang into the chair, and, with a smirk, pushed her sister onto Fang's lap.

"I'll handle the drinks." Serah said cheerily before walking towards the bar.

"Aren't you going to ask what I want?" yelled Lightning after her.

"Nope!" Serah yelled back over her shoulder.

Lightning rolled her eyes and glanced back at Fang, who was still staring at her dreamily.

"How much did you drink..?" asked Lightning slowly.

"A bit." Fang grinned. "People have been buying me drinks all night."

"Ah." Lightning said, looking around. "Who do I have to kill?"

Fang just chuckled, brushing aside Lightning's bangs so she could clearly see her face. "What's this about?"

"Hm?"

"What are you all dressed up for?"

"Serah's idea." Lightning muttered. "I wanted to.. look nice for you.."

"You've exceeded that.." Fang said. She couldn't take her eyes off of Lightning. She wished now that they weren't in the middle of a busy bar. Serah returned now, placing a glass of dark liquid in front of Lightning.

"To new beginnings." Serah said, holding up a bottle of water. Lightning followed suit before sipping the mysterious drink. She winced, her throat burning. The drink Serah had gotten her was ridiculously strong.

"Trying to give me alcohol poisoning and you aren't even drinking yourself?" Lightning choked.

Serah half smiled at her. For the rest of the evening she'd left Lightning alone while keeping a watchful eye on her, but as the time went on and as the drinks took their course, this proved unnecessary. Lightning, perched upon Fang's lap for the entirety of the evening, became more animated and talkative than Serah had ever seen her. Fang began letting her eyes wander around the bar, eying potential victims that might _dare_ approach her girlfriend.

It warmed Serah's heart to watch. This woman seemed to match her sister perfectly. And Lightning looked so happy everything seemed so perfect..

Serah's forehead crinkled with concern. _She_ didn't want to be the one to disrupt the peace. She felt Snow stir underneath her, his hand landing pointedly on her stomach.

"We're going to have to tell her.."

"I know.." Serah breathed, panic rising within her at the thought. Across the table she locked eyes with her sister, who drunkenly cocked her head to the side as if to ask 'What's wrong?'.

Serah put on her best fake smile and spoke between her teeth to Snow. It would be impossible for Lightning to hear...

"Another day.."


	14. Rebirth

**Alright. You guys all have permission to call me an asshole. I know. I deserve it. The last few months of my life have been a whirlwind as far as falling in love and getting my heart broken. And in that time I've neglected you guys. I left it at a sort of part that people might have thought it was coming to a close soon. But I really had no intention of having it end so quickly. There are a few loose ends to wrap up so in this new year I resolve to do that :) Happy new years everyone. Wanted this out last night at midnight but I couldn't put it together fast enough. Hope you enjoy. PS I'm going back and editing out some of the M rated language to put a T rating on this. SORRY. R&R**

* * *

She stared in disbelief. The reflection in her eyes was hollow, as the shock froze her features. This only made those around her more uneasy. _The calm before the storm_..

She strained, reaching back into her memory, past the night behind her that was still slightly hazy. The dull ache in her head became a forgotten bother, a faint nuisance. How could this morning have started off so perfect and turned into _this_? She could feel the intensity of those green eyes she had woken up gazing into, boring in to the side of her face but she didn't meet them. They would be entirely too distracting right now, and besides, even though she'd spent the entire morning being extremely affectionate with her, Lightning knew that Fang would stop her if she tried to do anything. Serah's surprise appearance had prevented 'round 3'. Instead, she focused on her younger sisters face and it all fell into place. Serah puking on the patio, feeling sick in the mornings, not drinking during their evenings out. It was all staring her right in the face the entire time..

With frightened eyes, Serah refused to look away from Lightning. Her shoulders were squared, shaking slightly as if it took much effort to keep them that way. It was strange, but Lightning thought that Serah looked even smaller now than she usually did and she appeared to be shrinking.

The emotions, the rage, the regret, had all passed through Lightning's mind in a matter of seconds that seemed to stretch for minutes, days really. The room silent and it looked as though no one was even breathing. When Lightning went to speak, she was surprised to find that her mouth was already open.

"What..?" Was all she could manage after all that time of deep thought. Her voice was low and dangerous. Her eyes were intense, boring into her sister's eyes. The same eyes of her mother.

Serah swallowed hard and blinked for the first time since she'd last spoken.

"I'm pregnant." Her lips quivered slightly as she said it again.

Fang remained silent and nearby, her arms folded. There was no trace of surprise on her face at this news. Rather, she kept all of her attention on Lightning's rigid form. Waiting for the muscles to spring, for the tension to break.

"No..." Lightning breathed, her face falling.

"Yes." Serah said firmly.

Lightning's eyes fell to Serah's stomach. It wasn't completely obvious yet, but the subtle roundness of her midsection was there. She was starting to _show_..

"You're too young." Lightning growled.

"I'm eight-teen.." Serah began.

"You're a child!" Lightning shouted. Her hands balling into fists. Serah pursed her lips and Lightning continued.

"How are you going to take care of it?"

Serah was taken aback by this question.

"I.. well I'm getting married." Serah sputtered. "We're going to be a family. And I was hoping her _aunt_ would help as well.."

"Her?" Lightning's eyebrows raised. "You know its a girl? How far along are you?"

"Well I don't _know_ it's a girl.. I just.. it feels.." said Serah in a small voice.

"How far along?" Lightning cut across her.

Serah paused, seeming to shrink even more.

"Serah.." Lightning said between her teeth.

"About.. four months." Serah said.

Lightning's mouth fell open. This made it even worse. She was pregnant before becoming a crystal, before becoming engaged. It must have happened right under Lightning's nose. She was shaking with rage now, and Fang felt it necessary now to stand between the two sisters. Her hands came to rest against Lightning's stomach in a protective way, but Lightning narrowed her eyes at this. She didn't want to be restrained. Fang still didn't speak. Lightning was hoping she would dare to try and contradict her attitude. It would be a full scale war then.

"You're throwing your life away." Lightning seethed.

Serah shook her head, her shoulders slumping.

"I want this.."

"You're too young to know what you want!" Lightning was shouting again. "I taught you to be safe! _I_ wanted more for you!"

Serah's eyes went to slits, her arms folding instinctively around her stomach.

"That's too bad, Claire. It's happening whether you want it to or not. It's my life, not yours.." said Serah contemptuously. Her voice sounded confident, but after she had said it she shrunk again.

Lightning took a step forward and Fang hastened to position herself directly in front of her shaking her head.

"Whose side are you on..?" Lightning asked indignantly.

"You'll regret it if you do anything." Fang said softly. Lightning just glared in return. That calm voice wouldn't work now..

In this moment of silence, Lightning heard her front door open and close. Her eyes darted back to Serah's face, who now looked more frightened than she had throughout this entire ordeal.

"Serah..?" Snow's voice could be heard before his loud footsteps heading towards the bedroom they were all standing in.

Fang sighed. The look on Serah's face confirmed for her that she had _not_ told Snow that she was going be breaking the news to her big sister today. She moved closer to Lightning, who was now shaking.

"I can't do this.." Lightning whispered. She stared into Fang's eyes. She wanted more than anything to be anywhere but here at this very moment. But it was too late to make an escape.

_He_ spoiled her. Took her innocence..

_My baby sister_..

He came into view now. His smile smug, perhaps through Lightning's eyes, and crossed the room in a few strides to put his arms around Serah. Eyes on the ground, Lightning broke free knowing this would be the only way to keep things peaceful.

Fang stared after her frowning. She lingered in the room a bit listening to Serah's faint whisper.

"I told her.." Serah sounded devastated.

Fang's eyes traveled to Snow's face to see his reaction. Scandalized. Angry? Surely he should understand why this would upset Lightning. This irritated Fang, she would have to have a little talk with him later. She made her exit then in pursuit of Lightning who she found pulling a jacket on.

"You're leaving..?" Fang asked.

Lightning didn't answer, zipping up her jacket and opening a closet to take out and reload her gunblade. Fang frowned at her.

"Where are you going..?" She persisted.

"Don't know." Lightning muttered, not looking at Fang.

Fang stared at her and realization poured over her. This behavior was familiar.

"Alright. Be safe. Don't stay out too late.."

Lighting paused, turning to hug Fang tightly, pecking her on the lips and opening the door.

"Thank you.." Lightning said softly. She locked eyes with Fang before slamming the door behind her. Fang smirked after her. She could hear the footsteps coming. She turned to see Serah and Snow walk up.

"Where did she go..?" Serah asked in a small voice.

"Went to clear her head, I think." Fang said, putting a hand on Serah's shoulder. Her eyes wandered to Snow's face.

He shook his head, clearly pissed off. Fang glared at him.

"What?" He asked indignantly, spotting the disapproval on Fang's face.

"You simply can't imagine why she'd be upset about this..?" Fang asked scathingly.

He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it, not wanting to fight with Fang.

"I'll be at home, Serah." He muttered, kissing her on the head before leaving.

There was an awkward moment after Snow left. Serah and Fang had never actually been alone in the same room together before.

"So.. Are you okay?" Fang glanced sideways at Serah, who was looking straight ahead.

"No.." Serah murmured.

"She'll come around.." Fang said gently. "This is how your sister thinks. She runs off and kills stuff."

This garnered a chuckle out of Serah, and Fang smiled in response.

"Don't you think Snow's over reacting..?" Fang asked.

Serah took a deep breath. "I do, but.." She smirked. "They're protecting of me for completely different reasons. I guess they'll always clash.."

She paused.

"I appreciate them both so much.."

Fang frowned at her in thought and then she remembered something.

"Oh!" Fang uncrossed her arms. "Come here. I got somethin' to show ya."

Serah followed her into another room slightly startled. Fang appeared to be setting up a small robot on the living room table.

"Have a seat." Fang said, turning to grin at her.

* * *

Lightning stopped walking.

Looking around she was slightly amazed at how far she'd come, even without thinking about where she was going. She shook her head at her own situation. Somehow, her own emotions could block out any rational form of thinking. she wasn't sorry she was here though, she looked up to the sky and the Archyltte Steppe looked just as beautiful as it had the first time she'd been there, with the exception of the ominous looking storm clouds that were moving in quickly from the east. How long would it take to get home?

As long as she was here, though, she decided there was a few things she'd like to see again. She went to the cave she'd never actually slept in. The lake with the still half submerged aircraft in it. Flocks of chocobo's running around in packs together, she wondered if any of those had been the one she'd seen, the one she'd admired that one day when Fang's timid hand had first brushed against her own..

Was marriage a possibility for her and Fang? Would she want ever want children with her? If the time ever came, would she agree to conceive for her? She, herself, had never desired children, never thought about it. Never had a yearning to take care of a baby. Now she was going to be an aunt. Aunt Claire. How is she supposed to help Serah with her baby when she doesn't know the first thing about them? Lightning reminisced about the toy dolls she'd have as a child and how they usually ended up losing their heads. She chuckled to herself. Large monsters of the type that had their blood running down Lighting's blade now she had no fear for. The thought of an infant and she was terrified.

Her thoughts had began carrying her once again subconsciously towards the direction of home. When she realized she was moving again it dawned on her how fatigued she was. Her legs and arms were sore with use. She was sweaty, dirty, bloody. She felt disgusting. She wondered idly if Fang would draw her a candlelit bathe. Her lip curled.

It was starting to get cold as the gusts of wind began ruffling Lightning's disheveled hair. If she hurried, perhaps she'd beat the storm home. She came up Atomos, deciding it would be much easier than walking on foot. As she approached the old fal'Cie it looked strangely inanimate. This was, as Fang called it, the harmless trail blazer. Why wasn't it moving?

She came to the compartment that opened to admit passengers and it remained motionless. Confused, she paused. Could it be that Orphans demise had put _this_ fal'Cie out of order as well? She was under the impression that they had been from different places, powered by different sources, and she'd taken the long way before so she didn't see it on the way over.

Thunder sounded overhead and Lightning gritted her teeth. It would be a long wet walk home. She drew her saber and, in a last stitch effort, struck Atomos as hard as she could. She stood there frowning for a moment at the inanimate object when she felt the first few drops of water hit her head. Turning her back to it, she looked up to the sky, her hand resting on her hip.

"Great.." she whispered to herself.

The sound of the drops of rain hitting the ground grew louder, and yet she still hadn't moved. It sounded beautiful, like a musical piece they way they pounded the different surfaces. Stone. Wood. Dirt. Plants.

And then she heard an odd mechanical noise coming from behind her. As she turned, she gasped.

A disorienting bright light blinded her.

A deep voice was sounding in her head to her slowly.

Her arms suddenly felt bound and everything went black.

The sound of the rain could not be heard any longer.


	15. The Pink Bombshell

**Hi. Review me :) 333 Wow this might be the first new years resolution I actually do XD **

**

* * *

**_Ragnarok._

_In all its feral glory. Too big to be allowed. _

_Cocoon's shell shifting; breaking. Crashing to the world below._

_Fang's calm beautiful face, her green eyes burning fervently. A strong expression of understanding and determination. It looked so powerful. How could she fail without her?_

And then someone turned the sound back on.

Lightning found herself laying on her side soaked to the core with the cold rain that was still pelting her roughly. Her eyes instantly focused on a puddle directly next to her head, the rain drops striking the surface violently and swelling out into neat orderly patterns toward the muddy edges. She blinked.

_Did... I pass out?_

She pushed herself up into a sitting position. Upon inspection it would appear that she was out cold for a substantial amount of time and in that time the storm had caught up with her. It was absolutely pouring. She frowned at the sky before turning to look behind herself. Atomos appeared to be in working order now. Stumbling to her feet she began a quick inventory of herself. Besides the mud that was now caked up the right side of her body and weighing her down, she appeared unharmed. She couldn't immediately see what had incapacitated her. When she started to shiver she made her way into Atomos to depart for home feeling uneasy and puzzled about the whole situation.

It wasn't much warmer inside the hull, but it was an improvement not being rained on anymore. Lightning ran a hand through her saturated hair and leaned back against the uncomfortable chair in preparation for the rough ride home. Her mind went back to the peculiar dream she had earlier, during little 'moment'. Since the fall of Cocoon she'd had several random dreams containing bits and pieces of the last crazy year of her life. It wasn't unusual. However, this one seemed to stay with her for some reason, unlike how time would fade the details of a normal dream. She sighed deeply, her teeth chattering. There was more pertinent things to be concerned about right now, like freezing to death. She would have all night to solve _this_ puzzle.

Even after leaving Atomos at the springs, it was still a staggeringly long walk home. And though the clouds were covering the entire sky, it was obvious had gone down long ago. The temperature had dropped dramatically.

By the time her front door was in view, she could no longer feel her limbs.

_So close.._

_

* * *

_Fang sat near the window in the living room, watching Serah and Vanille on the couch sharing a blanket. The remainder of the night had been spent telling Serah stories about Old Oerba. About life back then and the trials and tribulations her parents might have gone through. It was endearing to see how good of friends they turned out to be. But Fang couldn't be distracted now. She put her head to the glass, staring out into the empty darkness.

Until suddenly she spotted some movement in the distance. Involuntarily, she rose from her seat without breaking her gaze at the approaching figure. She rushed out of the room to pull the door open at the exact same moment Lightning came to a stop on the doorstep. Their eyes locked.

Lightning, Fang thought, might be the only person alive that could sport the 'drowned rat' look and make it look sexy. Her hair was stuck to side of her face, matted. A pink abstract work of art. Her clothing was covered in blood stains and mud and every inch of her flesh that was showing appeared to have a thin sheen of moisture on it. She was completely soaked, reflecting the light that came from inside the dwelling. Fang exhaled and her eyes went back to Lightning, who also exhaled, her breath visible in a small puff of steam. Gauging Lightning's expression, Fang decided it would be best to keep any sexy comments to herself.

"I was going to come looking for you.." Fang said softly.

Saying nothing, Lightning reached a numb hand up to push some hair out of her eyes when Fang noticed Lightning was shivering. Her lips were a purplish blue.

"Oh goodness, get in here." Fang said, hastily pulling Lightning into hall and closing the door behind her. Lightning stumbled automatically into her arms. Fang narrowed her eyes at this, not because she could feel the cold water seeping through her sari, rather that this tipped her off that something might have gone wrong. She pulled Lightning closer, frowning when she felt the vibrations of Lightning's coldness run through her.

"Are you alright?" Fang murmured. "What happened?"

Lightning shook her head against Fang's shoulder before pulling back to look her in the face. "Just cold. Got caught in the storm."

It wasn't _really_ a lie.

Their eyes locked again, and in between the strong gaze was a mingled sense of security and relief. Fang knelt down slowly, to kiss Lightning before brushing the hair off of her face. Lightning's arms snaked around her neck, and she suddenly felt much warmer despite her still soaking clothes..

The kiss broke long enough for Lightning to see Serah's timid head poking out from around the corner before it disappeared.

"She was pretty worried about you.." said Fang, breaking Lightning's gaze at the empty wall.

"Yeah.." Lightning sighed, reluctantly reclaiming her arms and starting to walk towards the living room.

"Are you ready for this?" Fang asked.

Lightning nodded. She felt no more fight in her, not with _Serah_ at least. What's done is done, and now that Serah was growing up her role in her little sister's life wasn't disappearing, rather reshaping, from protector to a supporting role. It was daunting and slightly bittersweet to see how much her sister has grown, in the last year alone. She paused behind the couch, staring at the back of her sisters head for a moment. It scared her how hard _letting go_ has become.

Sensing her presence, Serah turned around to meet her sister's eyes. An apologetic look mingled with relief. They didn't speak for a while. Lightning half smiled at her and Serah immediately felt at ease.

"Come here.." Serah said in a small voice, clearing some room on the couch.

"I'm soaking wet.." Lightning smirked.

"I don't care." Serah got on her knees to reach out to Lightning's wrist and pull her around to sit next to her.

"You're freezing.." Serah's eyes went wide.

"Yeah.."

Serah pulled the blanket over her. Lightning frowned.

"I should really just put some dry clothes on-" Lightning started, but Serah threw her arms around her, silencing her. She held her sisters tiny frame closer. It was a sign of affection and love that was until now becoming rare between the two and Lightning realized now that she may be at fault for that. Serah pulled her arms back coming to a more comfortable laying position, her head sitting on her sister's shoulder.

Out of curiosity more than anything else, Lightning's hand fell to Serah's stomach. Serah seemed cheered on by the action, that Lightning was taking an interest but Lightning was thinking more than anything else how a full sized baby could fit into such a small body. _Serah will be huge.._

"So when are_ you_ two having one..?" Serah asked to break the ice with a mischievous grin. She glanced to Vanille and they both began giggling. Lightnings head shot around to her sister's face, and then to Fang's who was across the room with her arms folded. Her eyebrows raised as she smirked.

Lightning just rolled her eyes, moving to stand up. _Awkward.._

"I'm gonna change." Lightning muttered.

"Satisfied?" A deep voice sounded.

Lightning looked up to see Snow standing beside the couch. She squared her shoulders saying nothing, intending just to pass by him. After the tender moment she'd just had with her sister, confrontation was the last thing on her mind. If he wanted to fight, well.. he could wait until tomorrow. She smirked to herself.

"Are you so selfish to think that it's okay for you to just run out of here and make her worry all day about you?" Snow continued, moving in front of her, essentially blocking her from getting around the couch. Lightning stopped and glared at him.

"Nothing to say for yourself? Running out on your sister again when she needs you?" Snow spoke down to her.

Lightning gritted her teeth.

"I never ran out on her."

"Oh, that's right. You just turned your back on her." Snow retorted in a snarky tone. "Have you finally figured out you _aren't_ her mother?"

The silence in the room was deafening. It was quiet enough to hear and count each and every individual drop of rain that was hitting the roof. Lightning's eyes went wide, slightly crazed. He had absolutely no right to say anything about their mother or about the role she played in her sisters life.

Fang pushed herself away the wall and stood behind Lightning.

"Snow." Serah said indignantly narrowing her eyes. Even _she_ thought this was entirely too far, but he put up a hand to silence her, not breaking eye contact with Lightning.

"Let me by." Lightning said in a dangerous voice.

Snow just folded his arms and stared down at Lightning. Eventually, Lightning just pushed him aside, catching him off balance, and went to head towards her room when his big oafish hand landed on her shoulder.

It was at that moment that many things happened at once..

A bright flash of light.

A loud rumble overhead.

Two windows shattered violently in the living room across from each other.

Snow grunted loudly, crumbling to the ground.

And a large gust of wind blew in through the broken windows, extinguishing every candle in the room casting everyone in to darkness.

Thought she couldn't see anything anymore, Fang's mouth dropped open. She'd seen _everything_. The most unnatural bolt of lightning came through the living room, seemingly in one window and out the other.. But that wasn't natural? Bolts of lightning didn't shoot sideways originating at ground level. But it was so fast it was impossible to see exactly where it originated. The one thing she was sure of was that she'd seen the bolt go directly through Snow _and_ Lightning but in casting an arm out into the darkness she could still feel that Lightning was still standing.

"Snow!" Serah's voice sounded. In the darkness she could be heard bumping into furniture trying to get to him.

"I'm okay.." He said lowly.

"I'll get the lights!" Vanille's voice stammered.

"Claire..?" Fang asked coolly.

Lightning didn't answer, mostly because she was in mild shock about what had just happened. The most peculiar feeling had come over her when all that had happened. As Vanille searched for some matches Lightning crossed the room towards one of the windows. The wind from the storm was blowing on a smoldering curtain, encouraging the flames to erupt.

"Fire!" Serah yelled.

"I've got it.." Lightning said blankly.

Visibly shaken, she crossed the room intending to beat the fire out. She rose an uneasy hand and brought it down hard but before making impact, water erupted from her palm. She gasped loudly and shook her hand until the outpouring had stopped. Needless to say, the fire was extinguished quicker than intended.

She stood there staring at the dark curtain, her mouth hanging open, her eyes wide. Slowly, shade by shade the room grew more visible with every candle that Vanille lit.

_What the hell was that..? Did anyone see that..?_

Lightning was afraid to turn around and face the stunned faces of her family. She turned on the spot slowly, her eyes landing on Snow and Serah first. Serah, with a hand behind Snow's head propping him up. Vanille was in mid stride towards the kitchen to return the matches. And Lightning exhaled.

She felt a moment of ease before looking at Fang.

Fang's eyes were wide, attached to Lightning's hand. Lightning's stomach dropped, and when Fang looked Lightning in the face, Lightning looked away.

"Well.. I'm.. gonna get cleaned up then.." Lightning said in a shaky voice before heading for her bedroom swiftly.

Her mind was frantic. She knew she only had a few minutes to think before Fang would have followed after her.

She removed her damp jacket and threw it on the bed before walking into the bathroom, closing the door, and locking it. She leaned against the door. She gasped for air, as if she hadn't had a breath in the last half hour. Opening her palm slowly she held it face up and stared into it imploringly, hoping desperately to find some easy explanation, but it was completely unscathed, relatively clean compared to the rest of her and uninjured.

A knock came at the door she was leaning against. Lightning jumped.

"Claire..?" Fang asked quietly, "Can I talk to you..?"

"Um.. " Lightning said in an unusually high voice, "Can it wait? I'm going to take a bath.." She crossed the room and turned on the tap. The water sounded loudly against the ivory, drowning out Fang's response. Numbly, Lightning pulled off her clothes, letting them fall into an untidy pile at her feet before sitting on the side of the tub.

_There has to be an explanation.._

She could hear Fang was still talking. She turned around to see that the water was now almost over flowing. If she didn't turn it off soon she'd flood the place. She sighed and turned the water off.

"Claire..?" Fang shook the doorknob against the lock. "Let me in.."

Lightning stood and hesitated with her hand on the door knob. What would she say? Where would she even start?

Deciding against letting Fang in, she whimpered, "Please.. just.. let me have some time."

She ran a hand over her forehead, through her tangled hair and it landed on her hip, she glanced towards the bath that didn't even seem tempting anymore before her eyes traveled to the bathroom mirror.

In this instant, her entire _world _ended.

She let out a gut wrenching moan of shock that she could not even try to stifle, her body swayed and she felt feint, grasping onto the sink to keep from falling over. For in the reflection she stared at in disbelief, there was something on her chest. In thick lines of what looked like the blackest ink imaginable was the tribal like pattern that meant nothing but condemnation. The worst curse possible. The mark of death.

The_ brand_ of a l'Cie.

"Claire!" Fang demanded desperately, having heard her girlfriend's sound of distress.

_No.._

Using her hand she tried scrubbing it away roughly, digging her nails in and breaking the skin out of desparation.

_This can't be real.. how can this be real?__  
_

Lightning couldn't think. Her muscles wouldn't respond to her commands. Her body felt broken, tainted.

Conceding eventually, Lightning turned the lock with tears in her eyes. There was no way she'd be able to keep this from Fang, even if she wanted to. Her eyes were wide when they met Fang's. And when Fang's eyes met Lightning's glorious naked body, her face faltered. As if on cue, her expression went from confusion, to stupefied shock, to despair.

Neither of them could find the ability speak, and in silence, Lightning fell once again into Fang's arms.

Outside, the storm reached a _new_ level of fervor. The wind was whipping dangerously through the trees, bending those that were too small to stay upright and threatening larger ones with more frequent cracks of lightning.

Miles and miles away, the base of Cocoon shook ominously.


	16. The Queen Rising

Fang didn't sleep very well that night.

Her eyes shot from the steady current of water rushing down against the bedroom window to her beautiful lover's troubled face as she slept. Lightning moved uncomfortably in her sleep, shifting enough so that Fang could see her brand under the flashes of light from the storm outside.

She bit her lip. In the small realization that the brand had merely existed it had already made it progress. The malignant mark had already sprouted legs, though the eye had not even begun to open yet. How could this be real? It daunted Fang. Not only that the realization that this was all starting again but the fact that she didn't seem to have the fear that Lightning did. Could it be possible that she was growing desensitized to the entire idea of being a l'Cie?

Spending the last several centuries branded could do that to a person, she supposed. Something inside her told her that everything would be alright. If only she could convey that message to Lightning and actually get through to her. Fang stared hard at Lightning's unconscious face. It looked so innocent when she slept with her mouth hanging open. It was like she shed the extra years she carried around when she slept, she looked so much younger than she acted in this innocent state. Her pink hair looked a dirty blond against the monochrome of the night. It called to Fang and she extended a pinky to Lightning's face, brushing the stray locks away.

All Fang could do was be there for her and prove there was nothing to fear. She would accompany Lightning to the end, they would see the end of her focus together. It couldn't possibly be anything near to what they've already accomplished together, but of course, Lightning would have to actually tell her what her focus was first. So far, she refused to do so.

The room began growing lighter. Despite the heavy storm that raged on outside it was obvious that the sun was overhead fighting fiercely to be seen through the clouds. A valiant effort, indeed, but Fang remained motionless. She sat there like a statue, guarding her loved on, her eyes unable to leave Lightning's face. She wasn't even sure if she was tired or not having stayed up all night. All she knew was that she'd never dedicated this much time towards staring at Lightning's face before. It was almost as if she was seeing through her now that there was even the slightest chance that she could be taken away forever.

Fang's eyebrows drew together.

_Well, that settles it._

_There is no force powerful enough in the world to keep me away from her._

She would stop at nothing. She would follow Lightning to the end of the world. Come hell and high water they would complete her focus. And should they fail.. well.. then the mindless monster that Lightning becomes could take her life. Given her upbringing, Fang never had much time to ponder the idea of "the one". A soul mate. It hit her like a ton of bricks now, there was nobody else for her. Lightning was, in many ways, made for her. Literally. Affection gushed freely inside for Lightning. Together they could overcome anything. Fang's lip curled.

Then she jumped about 10 feet in the air because at that moment Lightning drew a deep gasp and sat bolt upright in bed. She panted a bit, grasping at her neck before pulling her necklace off. It was either Fang's imagination or Lightning had begun sweating profusely in a short period of time. She looked around until she met Fang's eyes and held the gaze for a moment while she gathered her breath.

"F-felt like it was choking me." Lightning mumbled her explanation.

"You're fine.." Fang crooned, running a hand through her hair. This action didn't make Lightning's muscles relax though, quit the opposite it seemed. She got out of bed and crossed to the mirror on the other side of her room and pulled her tank top down to see if the brand was still there. This gave Fang a pit in her stomach.

"We're gonna beat it. You.. You've just got to tell me what your focus is.." Fang said, as she shadowed Lightning's steps.

Lightning felt like crying again but she fought against it. She knew what telling Fang would do. Her focus implicated Fang. Fang was a part of it. _Ragnarok_ was a part of it.

No.. She had already put her plan together. She would go off on her own and not return. Dragging Fang back to get branded all over again wasn't an option for her. She could never bring herself to do it, not to Fang.

"I don't remember." She muttered, crossing the room to her closet. _Get dressed and go before she can follow you._

Fang smirked._ I don't remember? That sounds familiar._

"Right. Well, you're going to have to tell me eventually. What are you doing..?" Fang asked.

Lightning glared at her lack of wardrobe, she didn't want to die in one of the uniforms she'd be put in by a fal'Cie.

"I need to go shopping." Lightning grumbled.

Fang cocked her head to one side, this was an odd thing to hear Lightning say.

"Right... Why don't you let me make you breakfast first." Fang said, walking up behind Lightning and putting her arms around her.

Lightning frowned, saying nothing. When the time came would she actually be strong enough to walk away..? As Fang kissed her cheek tenderly, the thought of leaving her was unbearable. The thought of infecting her with this curse, however, was infinitely worse.

"I'm not hungry." Lightning muttered. "I'll be back."

Fang stared after her after she had slipped out of her arms.

_Pick and choose your battles.. you'll get it out of her. You always do.._

* * *

The village square was busy. Lightning wandered around a bit, looking into random businesses. Everything people was selling seemed to be scraps and remains from Cocoon, a reminder of the life dictated to them by a renegade fal'Cie. _No.. That wouldn't do. _

She stopped outside of a blacksmith's shop admiring a beautiful set of armour in the display window. It looked light and man made, but a bit of a departure from her usual garb.

"Wow.." A small voice behind her exclaimed, she felt someone come to a stop beside her. Lightning glanced to her side to find Vanille there.

"Do you know what that is..?" Vanille asked, her eyes wide.

"No." Lightning said.

"But wow, that must be older than me. The old Oerban warriors used to wear this."

Lightning's eyes came to rest again on the armour. Now that she knew how old this was it really was starting to look ancient. It was seemingly undamaged too. Sleek and silver, it would cover her brand easy enough. Though the shoulders were slightly bulky and the large targe that would rest upon her wrist seemed to counterproductive to her fighting style, she couldn't resist the urge..

Absentmindedly, Lightning began patting different places in her jacket as if looking for something. She was aware that Vanille was still talking but she wasn't really paying attention to her. She opened her jacket and pulled it off to easily access the bag she carried with her inside of it. She knelt down to rummage through it.

"Yeah.. those feathers. It was said to give one flight in battle." Vanille yapped on, looking down at Lightning. Lightning straightened up holding a bag of gold and froze at the sound of Vanille's gasp.

"Where did you get that!" Vanille's eyes were huge.

"Um.." Lightning sputtered, looking at the bag of gold oddly. Why would Vanille care about her finances..? But that's when the shorter girl jabbed a finger towards Lightning's chest. She saw, then, that her tank top was not enough to cover up her brand. She met Vanille's eyes before looking around to make sure no one had heard her.

"Keep it down!" Lightning grunted between her teeth as she pulled her jacket on again.

"How...? How..?" Vanille was whispering behind her hands shaking her head. She looked as though she'd just heard the news that someone close to her had passed away.

"It's not your problem." Lightning said dismissively, putting her hand on the door to the shop before Vanille yanked her backwards.

"Does Fang know?" Vanille yelped.

"Yes." Lightning seethed, beginning to get irritated.

"Did you tell her your focus?" Vanille said hysterically.

Lightning said nothing, but turned back towards the door.

"You have to tell her!" Vanille stamped her foot.

"No, I don't." Lightning said simply, pulling her arm back.

"She'll find out. I tried to keep my focus from her too.. She always knows." Vanille whimpered.

Lightning ignored this, "Whatever you do, don't tell Serah. Okay?"

Vanille's face fell. The cogs were spinning in her head, and much like before it always seemed to take her a little longer to thinks thing through completely before she completely understood it. She took a step back, staggered.

"You're... going away, aren't you?"

Lightning stared into Vanille's face. She can't remember ever really trying to read Vanille's expressions before, there wasn't many a time where they were alone together, or even had a full fledged conversation before. That was why she couldn't understand how the girls face could hold so much pain for her misfortune. It made her feel bad for being mean to her in the past, for ignoring her.

Lightning sighed.

"You can't do that to her." Vanille's voice broke. "She loves you. She'll go looking for you and she won't stop until she finds you."

Lightning's eyebrows pulled together, she opened her mouth to speak but words failed her the first few tries.

"I.. I can't involve her in this." Lightning frowned.

"Why?" Vanille asked, showing her lack of tact. "You saw what she did for me, and for Serah.. She'd do anything for _you_."

"Are you sure about that?" Lightning asked. She couldn't believe herself, she was actually considering telling Vanille _exactly_ why she couldn't involve Fang.

Vanille nodded.

Lightning put a hand on her waist, thinking. Deciding all at once, she grabbed Vanille by the elbow and pulled her closer, leaning her head down to mutter into the girl's ear.

"Do you think she'd become a l'Cie for me?"

Blank shock crossed Vanille's face.

"You saw.. her?"

Lightning nodded.

Vanille looked more troubled than ever. She wandered away, thinking.

_It looks painful._

"I'm not letting you leave her."

Lightning raised her eyebrows, assessing Vanille, wondering how she could possibly stop her.

"I'll keep your secret." Vanille started, "I'm going back to her but if you're not there in a half hour I'm telling her _and_ Serah.

Lightning glared at her. She took a gamble by telling Vanille and lost.

"Damn it." Lightning said between her teeth. She pulled the door open and went inside the store without another glance at Vanille.

A satisfied smile crossed Vanille's face. Fang's plan _had_ worked.

Or so she thought.

Thirty minutes had elapsed.

Fourty-five.

An hour fifteen.

At two hours Fang began pacing. Vanille's threat had obviously made Lightning flee. She pulled the blinds back from the window and peered down the street. She saw nothing.

"Just tell me." Fang sighed, leaning against the window.

Vanille hesitated.

"Well.. She didn't tell me exactly what it is..." she frowned, knowing full well what Fang would do when she told her what Lightning saw.

"Well?" Fang asked.

Vanille dropped her head. "She saw.. you.. Fang."

The room fell silent. When Vanille felt brave enough she raised her head and was surprised with the expression she was met with. Fang's face was bright, thoughtful.. happy? Her lip was curling and she seemed to be off in a distant part of her mind imagining something. Her eyes were a very soft shade of green.

"She's.. trying to protect me." Fang grinned.

Vanille blinked. "Y-yeah.."

Fang stood up and grabbed her lance from behind the door with a smile on her face.

"What now?" Vanille asked.

Fang stopped and turned to face Vanille, flashing her a winning smile. "I go get branded, of course."

Vanille's mouth dropped open. How could she be so happy about this?

"Are you feeling okay? Fang! Wait!"

Fang's response was drowned out amid her own laughter. Had she gone insane? Laughing in the face of something that she would have, at one time, taken so seriously. But she suspected that she had finally accepted just how seriously her and Lightning were meant to be together. Twin fates intertwined and, when combined, able to face overwhelming odds and remaining to this point undefeated. Nothing could stop them.

She set off immediately for the Archyltte Steppe with and incredulous Vanille bobbing behind her in her wake.

* * *

The skies were clear now at about the same time the sun had come to a position immediately overhead. The breeze was intoxicating as it tossed Fangs hair around, she was drinking in the vitamin d that the sun was providing her. The amazing weather only propelled her mood into further heights.

She dove gracefully off of a short cliff, to a lower grassy area, turning only to make sure Vanille made it down alright as well.

"There it is." Fang smirked, pulling Vanille behind a tree. Atomos was resting near an entrance to a dark cave in the distance.

"Now listen, you can't come close. If I pass out you have wait for me to wake up. If you get branded, Vanille, I'm going to be livid. You have to promise me you'll stay here.." Fang's eyes were severe.

Vanille swallowed. "Are you sure you've thought this through..?" She whined.

The savvy smile returned to Fang's face. "What's there to think about..? It's got to be done, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, but.." Vanille bit her lip, searching Fang's face imploringly. She thought Fang must have missed something about the message she'd conveyed to her. How could her reaction be anything remotely close to this?

"Don't worry." Fang said in a soothing voice. "I reckon I'm some sort of a professional at this by now, hey?" She winked.

Vanille bit her lip harder as Fang turned her back to her and began approaching Atomos. It took every ounce of strength she had in her small body to keep from launching herself after her best friend and forcing her back. Forcing her to see reason and find another way.. It was so hard to watch Fang walk with so much swagger up to such a dark fate, with her arms outstretched as if to welcome it when she reached the inanimate fal'Cie.

"Fang.. " Vanille whispered, gripping the tree hard. She'd just seen the fal'Cie open, the lights, the crystal. It was happening. Like a recurring nightmare, a bit of deja vu from centuries ago. Vanille had to look away, it was too much for her, and her back ended up against the tree, her eyes closed.

Minutes had passed that had felt like only mere seconds. After plucking up the courage, Vanille was able to look back again. Atomos was gone. Fang lay on her back.

Vanille stepped away from the tree, feeling as if the threat was gone. If the fal'Cie isn't here anymore, she can't get branded, right? Uneasily, she took a step towards Fang, hesitating and then a sound that came from behind her made her call out in fright.

_Clunk._

She spun on her heels and came face to face with Lightning.

Lightning straightened up and a soft breath escaped her. Her eyes on Fang, eyebrows drawn together in concern.

"Stay." Was all she said to Vanille, not even sparing her a glance, before she began walking towards Fang.

Shocked, Vanille backed up into the tree again unable to take her eyes off of Lightning. She looked like a queen. The armour from the blacksmith fit her perfectly. She wore it like a crown, as if it were made for her. Like it was waiting for her to inherit it. It moved noisily against itself as she closed the distance between herself and her lover.

Lightning dropped to a knee above Fang, touching her face and neck as she felt the woman's steady heart beat betraying any hint of an ominous outcome. It relieved her to feel it. Her eyes then fell to Fang's shoulder. The oddest black mark lay there. It was the same brand that everyone else had worn, but not Fang's. She'd never seen Fang's brand look like this, it had been scorched before, broken. This one was fresh, brand new. It didn't look right on her. It pained her to see it.

Lightning's slide her arms under Fang's shoulder's and knees and lifted her easily, walking her slowly back to the safe haven Vanille was guarding and laying her down gently in a shady soft patch of grass underneath the tree. Vanille squeaked uncomfortably when she saw the brand.

Lightning said nothing, standing up straight to check the area over again and ensure nothing unfriendly was nearby. Fang began to stir then.

"You came for me.." Fang said, positively beaming up at Lightning. Her face, however, began to falter as she realized what her solder was wearing. She didn't look like a soldier at all anymore. Her eyes traced the feather chain mail that hung at Lightning's side to the large hip guards. The heavy plate she was wearing, and the ornate epaulette's on her shoulders. She looked simply out of this world.

"..Where did you get _that_.." Fang said without volume, a trace of wonder in her voice. She recognized the armour immediately.

"I wish you wouldn't have done this." Lightning said softly, ignoring her and offering her a hand.

Fang took it, pulling herself to her feet and brushing herself off. She shot a quick glance at Vanille, who obviously didn't understand she was asking for a minute alone. Vanille cocked her head to one side stupidly.

Fang smirked at Lightning humorlessly, "And just let you turn into a monster, huh? You think I could do that?"

"I would have rather have done that than have you get that." Lightning pointed at Fang's brand.

"Oh.." Vanille said softly before walking out of earshot.

Fang looked after her amused.

_She really _is_ on a thirty second delay. _

"This is what I'm meant to be.." Fang regathering her thoughts. "With you, always with you. Haven't you figured that out yet?"

Lightning only stared at her.

"We're connected.." Fang said certainly.

"I don't want to be your responsibility." Lightning winced. "Just because I got in trouble, it could be the end of both of us now."

"I've never thought of you as a responsibility.." Fang hummed, stepping closer to Lightning and extending a hand through her hair. Lightning closed her eyes. "You're.. so much more than that. I did this willingly. I did this, so that we could be together forever one way or another."

Lightning swallowed hard, staring deeply into Fang's bright eyes. The gaze was enough to make her lose her entire train of thought for a time. No one had ever mentioned 'forever' with her before. did Fang mean it like the way she was taking it?

Lightning cleared her throat and looked away.

"So, did you see what I saw?" Lightning asked, slightly muddled still.

"The shell? Seems easy enough." Fang smiled. "Could easily turn that into crystal sand as Ragnarok."

Fang's eyes were already traveling back to Lightning's outfit. Lightning crossed her arms noisily and frowned at Fang. Somehow, she thought it would be a lot more difficult than Fang made it out to be. And what about the outcome? She can't afford to turn into a crystal for eternity, not when she had a pregnant little sister...

At this moment, Fang crossed the distance between them and seemed unable to hold back any longer. She kissed Lightning, as if she'd never kissed Lightning before.

And, for now at least, Lightning's worries became nothing but unformed fuzzy sentences in the back of her mind..

* * *

**Hi. :) Sooo who's effing excited WOW A SEQUAL! Here I am sitting here wondering what the hell to put Lightning in now that shes grown out of her uniform and what does square enix do for me? Give me an awesome solution haha! **

**The unfortunate thing is that eventually this story will end up so out of date and inaccurate that it'll be overlooked, but the good thing is with new content comes new stories :) I can't wait. What do you guys think? Excited for the sequel? **

**Oh right, anyway, about this chapter, it's definitely 2am in the morning and my beta reader isn't available, so its probably riddled with mistakes and such but I really wanted to put this up tonight. So revisions will be coming, and I apologize for any mistakes I've missed so far. Take Care.**

**Read and Review!  
**


	17. The Mind's Eye of the Beast

When someone is dreading something the time leading up to the unfortunate event takes flight. As if time were a mere child playing a tasteless joke on you, laughing at your misfortune as they hit the fast forward button.

Any well trained soldier is conditioned to handle this sort of thing and deal with the pressure. Lightning, at the moment, felt nothing like a soldier, not that she wanted to. Her senseless titles and achievements she'd made within the now non-existent Guardian Corps were a constant reminder of one of her biggest regrets. A pain that has been eating her lately.

It wasn't what she learned, or the strength she built in her training, but the horrible neglect she put upon her younger sister. Realization was putting it in front of her eyes now as she stared off into the distance. The wind began teasing her bangs, tossing them in front of her face, but she didn't feel compelled to move them. Even though her messy pink hair fell in front of her eyes it didn't obscure her vision. In her minds eye, she was once again seven years old playing a childish game with a four year old Serah. Her aggressive nature taking over before Serah hit the ground.

Scraped knees.

She was always there to comfort Serah if she got hurt. She wiped her eyes and picked her up, pulling her to feet and dusting her off. With Serah, distraction was the best solution when she was upset about something. Lightning would make the girl laugh and it wasn't so bad anymore..

And her parents would always tell her she was such a good big sister..

Lightning winced.

If it wasn't for _her_, Serah wouldn't have fallen in the first place.

If she had been around more, would Serah have gone wandering that fateful day she stumbled upon the vestige?

Would she have met and slept with Snow out of wedlock? Would she be engaged? Pregnant?

She then remembered how far she'd went to save Serah. To bring her out of crystal stasis and give her another shot at life, but with another pang she remembered how it was the first few months after Serah came back. Lightning, so distraught over Fang being gone, had neglected her _again_.

Lightning shook her head frowning. Neglect and rash judgments were nothing compared to what she was doing now. Serah was probably sleeping in Snow's arms right now without a care in the world. Lightning eyes fell to Fang's slumbering form beside her, knowing that as the sky before her growing lighter was essentially the same as an hourglass counting down towards the moment she was dreading. Today, she would be completing her focus, and she had absolutely no idea how things were going to turn out, or if she'd ever see Serah or Fang again. It wasn't a dangerous task to complete, in Fang's opinion anyway, but the prospect of turning into crystal for eternity was a possibility. Not having said goodbye to Serah made her feel repulsed with herself. The idea of her giving birth to and raising that baby without her..

Lightning muscles coiled, she wanted to run back and explain everything to her. She wanted to apologize for every selfish act she'd ever committed. Every time she felt too busy, too tired, too moody to spend time with her... Lightning promised her parents she'd do everything for her younger sister. She owed them an apology as well.

Fang stirred then, and Lightning's dread consumed her as she noticed it . Even in such a time of panic she couldn't help taking in Fang's gentle expressions. A silent yawn, the crinkling of her face as reality poured back into her as her dreamworld dissipated. As she sat up she smoothed her hair and met Lighting's eyes and they stared at one another, neither of them unable to find words to fit this circumstance. Both of them knowing what had to be done today.

"Did you sleep at all?" Fang asked finally.

Lightning didn't answer, afraid her voice would be too unstable, and Fang didn't push the issue. Instead, she leaned back on her palms and stared off into the horizon, grasping for some words of comfort. A long while passed.

"You won't be alone.." Fang murmured. Lightning's head turned towards Fang, who smiled sideways at her. "No matter how it turns out. Wherever we end up, we'll end up there together.."

Lightning felt a pit in her stomach and she stared desperately into Fang's eyes, trying to communicate without speaking. To say what she was feeling right now would be too callous, too cold. She couldn't find the right words for it..

The sun broke over the mountains then, and the sun dazzled them momentarily. After Lightning's eyes adjusted she found Fang staring at her again, only now her eyes were magnificent translucent emeralds due to the sunlight. It took her breath away and she remembered exactly where she had seen this before. This was the Fang she'd seen in her focus. Ever devoted, ever confident..

"Fang.." Lightning lamented. Fang's smile faded.

"It's not enough.." Lightning whispered. As soon as she saw shock cross Fang's face she had to look away.

Fang scooted closer, her eyebrows drawn together, "What do I have to do..?" She asked slowly.

Lightning shook her head, "It's not you."

"'It's not you, it's me?'" Fang asked, hardly darling to believe it.

"No.." Lightning looked at her again. "It's not like that.. You're perfect, I just-" Lightning swallowed hard. "I can't just disappear into a fairytale with you. Believe me, I'd love to, but.. Serah.. I can't disappear on her.

"We'll make it back-" Fang started confidently, but Lightning interrupted.

"You don't know that.." Lightning whispered.

"I don't." Fang agreed, "But, we made it back last time didn't we?"

Lightning looked away. This wasn't enough for her.

"Let's say, we go cei'th." She started.

Fang actually snorted at this.

"No! Humor me. Who's next in line, Fang..?"

Their eyes met and understanding passed between them. Fang stared at the rising sun, trying to picture what Serah and Vanille would be doing if they were in this situation. Crumbling, she imagined.

"Point taken." Fang murmured. She closed her eyes and moved closer to Lightning, the bridge of her nose coming to rest against Lighting's cheek.

"If we're going to do this we have to make sure that this cannot happen again. Ever. To anyone else.."

"A detour then.." Fang whispered. "Destroy Atomos?"

Lightning sighed, closing her eyes as she nodded.

She wasn't sure if this was the last fal'Cie or if it would make a difference at all but if this was in fact the last day of her conscious life for a while Lightning had check all of her basis. Emotionally, she could have been better for Serah. For now, she hoped, this would suffice as an apology. Her best effort at protection for the only family she has left. It was going to be a beautiful day for a sacrifice, and Lightning had run out of things to stall it.

* * *

"Ready..?" Fang asked, smirking to herself at Lightning hibernating consciousness.

Lightning opened her eyes, frowning as she realized time had made a fool of her once more. Since when had they gotten to the approach of Taejin's Tower? She was standing on a cliff facing the empty shell. Apparently Fang had given her as much time as she could spare because the sun now floated nearly directly overhead. Lightning nodded, knowing she had no other options. She could feel Fang standing directly behind her, the emeralds burning into the back of her head.

Lightning's head fell, and she stared down into the chasm below.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, too."

Lightning closed her eyes as she felt Fang's breath against the back of her neck. She turned slowly to face her and their eyes met. She tilted her head a bit in concentration, as if she was trying to find any trace of a lie in Fang's eyes, hoping to will herself to believe that this could only be as easy as Fang had told her it would be.

Fang opened her mouth, as if teetering on the verge of speech, her hands seemingly nervous as they raked over her pocket. Taken a deep breath, she nodded once and bit her lip. She took Lightnings hands in her own and they continued to stare at each other.

"You're going to feel a little funny.." Fang said softly without breaking her gaze.

Some time passed and Lightning winced, not from pain but mere shock her muscles had begun to spasm. A warm veil was taking her.

"Let it consume you." Fang murmured. "Don't be afraid."

And it burned hotter.

She didn't let go and she refused to look away.. but something in Fang's expression shifted making her look less human, but friendly all the same. Panic rose within Lightning and that's when she took notice of Fang's brand, now emitting a blinding light, pulsing fiercely with her heartbeat. Faster and faster..

Lightning whimpered, the heat in her chest intensifying, she knew her own brand must be alight as well, though it was obscured by her chest plate. Her eyes began to roll but she fought intensely to stay conscious and keep her eyes focused on Fang.

She was burning to death, and Fang was grinning at her.

"Let it take you.." Fang said softly. "We're almost there."

_Let go.._

_Fade to black, and silence.  
_

Oddly enough, she could still hear. She could still feel, but there was no sight. The wind tearing through the plains and the wildlife going about their daily business and.. heavy footfalls. The heat was ebbing and it felt like she was moving, but her body wasn't willing her to do so.

Positively alarmed she forced herself awake out of the dark place, and found that was far too high, too big to be allowed and moving far too fast. She called out in shock and was met with an accompanied growl that ricocheted off the mountaintops.

She felt as though she fainted again, the blackness against her open eyes, but she was still moving, as if someone else was in control. This has to be Fang's doing..

_Of course, she'd take the lead.._

It was the oddest sensation, moving without doing anything, as if phantom limbs had taken over her body. It was strangely intimate, and she thought disapprovingly of how Fang had done this with Vanille before.._ twice.._

Looking for a distraction she tried to get a good look at herself. Ragnarok was nearly unrecognizable. It looked... different. Larger, if possible, and it only had two arms. A stranger armour, and a sword Lightning immediately recognized as Odin's. _Odin's sword. _

_No, of course Hecatonchier wouldn't play a role in this form a Ragnarok.._

And then in the distance growing ever closer, Lightning saw it. It was if Atomos were waiting for them to come destroy it. The lone fal'Cie looked defenseless and so small from this angle. Fang raised a gigantic arm, the size of a skyscraper, and it came down hard upon it just as Lightning passed out again, but she still felt the immense impact.

She started to think that she was understanding what was happening. It was as if the process of destrying something took so much of the creatures power that there wasn't enough left to keep Lightning's vision running. She wasn't doing enough, she was idle, and it was more pertinant for Fang to see, rather than her. _Strange.._

One hit broke it apart, she could feel it. It shattered upon impact and the next thing she saw when she composed herself was the large crystal being yanked out from within. It crumbled inside of Fang's crushing grip, reduced to a fine sand that slipped through the creatures claws. Through _her_ claws.

Elation swam through Lightning.

_The last fal'Cie.._

The same feeling she got every time a fal'Cie was slain, as though perhaps now, her family would finally be safe. She pictured a world where she could live her life independently, freely. Without the worry of something like this taking her life over again, or threatening Serah..

Even inside her own head, inside this foreign body she was sharing, she could almost hear Fang chuckle before they turned back towards the shell of Cocoon, without a backward glance at the smoldering remains of Atomos, and set out and a breakneck sprint.

_She's doing it, she's making it easy and quick.. and it'll be over soon. _

Safely demolishing the remains of her old home would be ridiculously easy in this form. Fang was right all along, and they charged forward, anticipation was making Lightning feel more aggressive, but something was wrong...

Ragnarok was slowing, coming to a stop. The heat was returning..

And darkness took all of her senses this time..

* * *

**_LIMBO_**

_Inventory check. _

_Headache_.. she had a head once more, but when she opened her eyes she found that that was the last of her worries.

_What happened..?_

Lightning rolled onto her back and stared up into a dark stormy night that had seemed to consume them. She noticed Fang was already on her feet, but where? In every direction it seemed like a deserted flat land that went on forever in every direction.

"I don't know.." Fang answered. "We didn't even finish-"

Lightning scrambled to her feet. "The focus? You didn't destroy the pillar?"

Fang looked at Lightning mournfully, "We turned to crystal before I could.."

Lightning's mouth hung open.. She was confused. With the pain that was shooting through her chest now she was sure there should be a geyser of blood erupting from the wound. Did this mean the pillar would fall on all those people now? Did her selfishness cost them the entire world? She folded delicately to the ground, laying on her side. A blank expression on her face.

_What.. what do we do now..?_

"I don't know." Fang answered, her voice muffled. Her hands were apparently holding her head, her back to Lightning. Lightning stared at her back oddly. How was she answering her thoughts like that?

_... Fang?_

"What?"

_Look at me.._ Lightning thought.

Fang turned, their eyes met.

Lightning winced, pursing her lips_, Can you hear me?_

Fang's mouth fell open. Lightning felt that now as she stared into Fang's face, she could actually feel the emotions she was _feeling_ as well.

Completely stunned, Fang ended up on the ground next to Lightning, unable to take her eyes off of her face. What did it all mean? Why were they sharing a hive mind now? Wide eyed, they stared into each others minds, consoling where consolation seemed fit. The one thing that surprised Lightning was how much admiration Fang held in her gaze, and being able to feel it. It felt so similar to her own.

Lightning's head fell into Fang's lap, and the deliberation began. There had to be a way out of here and Lightning was determined to figure it out before Cocoon fell. But this place was strangely calm, and laying here in Fang's arms, Lightning wondered if this place itself could be trying to seduce the fight out of her. An escape to a world where everything she needed was at her mind's grasp, where she didn't have to think or feel or worry, with her greatest love at her side..

_No.._ she _had_ to remain focused..

* * *

**R&R Please. I've come a long way on this story and as I'm stepping into writer created territory I'm finding it more difficult. It's not that i've been too busy to right, rather I've been struggling with content and how exactly I'm going to wrap this up now that I know there's going to be a sequel. I'm trying to keep it as close to what I think may end up coming in the sequel as best I can while keeping my own twist on things and not breaking from what i've already written, though I could be way off :P we''ll see.**

**Thank you for your patience.**


	18. Valhalla

_"The sacrifice which causes sorrow to the doer of the sacrifice is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy."_ ~ **Mahatma Gandhi**

* * *

Inconsequential things ran through her mind..

The possibility that perhaps she'd left a candle lit in her house before they had left that place that seemed so undeniably foreign now.

What Serah would like for her upcoming birthday, or would it now be more appropriate to buy her things for the child she was about to bear. _Pang._

Lightning winced at the same time she felt Fang's gaze land upon her. Serah, Lightning found, was now entirely too painful to think about. She hastily redirected her thoughts towards something less important, like the state of the little bar back in Oerba that she'd frequented in less complicated times. Her stride picked up and Fang matched it, sighing at Lightning not returning her gaze. And though Lightning did feel bad for trying to ignore Fang, she worked hard to think nothing of it.

This was the only way to keep her thoughts her own right now and if she let them flow freely she would only end up being lectured again about negativity.

The longer they were here, the more this place started feeling like a vast coffin but that wasn't the scariest part. While it seemed there was no escape, Lightning found herself more drawn to it, to exploring it, to finding the meaning of this place and fulfilling a purpose she was unaware she had.

Fang didn't share her enthusiasm but followed her blindly through the low hanging mist. It was hardly possible to see more than 10 feet ahead of yourself in this place and the air felt so dense that it was weighing heavily upon Fang's lungs. She hardly saw a point in trying to progress through this at all. It was as if they were walking through a scenic loop. The ground remained dry and cracked, not gaining nor losing the slightest angle of elevation.

Lightning broke ahead, finally coming to a place where the mist broke. She ignored Fang's calls behind her to slow down for a moment as she gazed upon some seriously old ruins. It looked like this place had once been urbanized and whatever happened here as far, far, worse than what had happened in Gran Pulse.

"Claire!" Fang's voice came frantically behind her. Lightning turned and saw clear as day Fang spinning hectically, turning in every direction with a very severe look on her face. It struck Lightning odd, she could see her just fine.

"I'm here.." Lightning said, clearing her throat having not used her voice since they'd gotten here.

"Where?" Fang asked, looking at the direction of Lightning, but no able to focus upon her face.

Lightning blinked, watching very close to Fang's reaction as she walked closer to her. It wasn't until she was very close that Fang seemed to be able to see her, the tribal woman quickly snatched at Lightning's arm when she came into view and pulled her close.

"Don't.. do that.." Fang breathed heavily.

Lightning looked oddly into Fang's face.. "It clears up ahead.." Lightning said softly, glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the ruins.

"It's getting thicker.." Fang interjected.

"What are you talking about..? I could see you fine the entire time." Lightning asked slowly.

Fang stared into her face imploringly. Something wasn't right here.

"Please.. Claire, I have a bad feeling about this. Let's go back. I can hardly breathe.." Fang grunted.

"I.." Lightning started, glancing behind her once more. It seemed as if the pull was more fervent than ever. Whatever was in that ruins Lightning had to find it. It was as if her entire purpose of being conscious right now relied on visiting those ruins. "Fang.. there's something over there."

"I can't.." Fang said.. her body slumping.

Lighting, positively alarmed, stooped to pull Fang up again. "What's wrong with you..?"

"It's because she doesn't belong here." A small voice stated obviously from behind Fang.

As if it were choreographed, Lightning and Fang both moved at top speed, drawing their weapons and pointing them directly at the source of the voice without even pausing to look at it first. They fought for a position where one could be standing in front of the other protectively but ended up merely side by side. The small figure smiled broadly at them both.

"You truly _do_ make a legendary team." She said happily.

Lightning stared at the girl. She appeared in stature to look no more than 10 years old but from here mere presence she emanated so much more. She found herself quickly fascinated with her. There was bright light shining out of her eye sockets, making it impossible to see her eyes, if she had any.

"Who are you?" Fang asked breathlessly, moving slightly staggered to push in front of Lightning. Lightning, who was staring awestruck allowed this.

"You may call me Etro, Ragnarok."

An unintelligible noise escaped Fang's throat. She stiffened, for the first time ceasing movement since her breath had been taken away. Lightning immediately lowered her weapon, sensing nothing of danger, though her eyes were wide.

"No you aren't.." Fang said.. "The depictions.."

"I took the form I wanted you to see." Etro crooned softly. She walked up to Fang and touched the woman's face, having to roll onto her toes to reach. Fang's eyes closed.

Etro, the _goddess_, in the flesh? How likely was that? And why would she be taking the form of a small child. Lightning narrowed her eyes as she observed, knowing that there was definitely more to be seen here. It could be a sign of good faith, a peaceful approach to bring them up short from immediately bashing her but Lightning was well aware it could also be a ploy. The child like figure was slightly translucent and innocent looking, but as she turned her lamp like eyes upon Lightning, it took her breath away.

"You've both done so well, I am so, so proud.." Etro continued, reaching a hand to take Lightning's.

The current that ran through Lightning at the mere touch of Etro was unexplainable. It brought back waves of comfort that she hadn't felt since her own mother had held her as a child.

"What.. happened?" Lightning sighed, forcing her eyes open. "The focus.."

"I apologize for that." Etro frowned. "The only way to get you here was through deceit, though I assure you the_ last_ thing you have to worry about is Cocoon falling down."

Fang's face changed at this, her lips turning down in a bit of a sneer. "Haven't we given enough?"

"I'm afraid the conflict is far from over." Etro lamented. "Which is why _you_ are here." She looked towards Lightning.

"I don't understand." Lightning said.

"Balance must be upheld." Etro glanced towards Fang mournfully.

Lightning frowned, "I still don't.." She glanced towards Fang and their eyes locked. "...understand."

"You will." Etro said, "but, as I said, I'm afraid you don't belong here just yet, Fang."

Fang gripped her lance tightly in her hands, shaking from the force as the waves of rage powered through her. "You can't separate us."

It looked like a part of Lightning died on her face. She understood what was about to happen, but she had to do it. She turned her back on them both, running a hand through her hair and waiting for the hairline trigger to be pulled.

"I must.. " she heard Etro say softly behind her.

Lightning waited one beat and with the swiftness and agility of something inhuman, she twisted around quickly, feeling her sabre lock into place and come into contact with Fang's falling Lance, stopping it in its tracks so hard it emitted sparks mere inches from Etro's head.

Shock crossed Fang's face.

Etro lowered her head, smiling widely. " I see you understand why you're here, Lightning."

"Claire.." Fang frowned.

"I have to.." Lightning whimpered, still holding firmly against Fang's strength. Fang pushed harder, baring her teeth.

"That's enough.." Etro said, raising her head followed soon after by her hand. From her palm a red light shot into the both of their chests sending them onto their backs. For some time after, it burned white hot. Lightning and Fang were both paralyzed with the sensation.

"What... is this..?" Fang grunted, arching her back.

"Your birthright." Etro said

Lightning lay gasping, staring up at the sky. As the burning was ebbed away, she glanced sideways to see Fang was already on her knees, clutching at her arm and also looking at a foreign mark that was now on her chest. It was thick dark black, and shaped like a brand, but it was hollow. A blind brand, with no eye in the center to keep time.

"No focus, no time limit, no punishment." Etro said softly. "Since the last fal'Cie has been incapacitated, I have no choice."

"What..?" Fang croaked.

"l'Cie powers will be inherent with Pulsian blood now." Said Etro.

Shock ran through Lightning. "But.. that means.. Serah.. Vanille.."

Etro nodded.

"But they're the only ones left!" Fang yelled, climbing back to her feet, keeping her balance steady with her lance.

Etro's eyebrows raised as she fixed her bright stare upon Fang.

"You're wrong about that.."

Fang looked more irritated than ever. Lightning, who had just stumbled to her feet, walk to Fang, dropping her gunblade behind her. She flung her arms around Fang's neck and pulled her close.

"I'm sorry.." Lightning whispered into her ear.

"There has to be another way." Fang said.

Lightning just shook her head into the side of Fang's face. She knew there was no other option. Understanding was flooding into her with every second that passed. As though Etro was streaming directly into her brain.

And one truth rang out painfully.

_Fang has to go_.

She pulled her closer, desperately trying to figure out how to portray a lifetime of emotions in the short span of time they had left to each other.

"I don't understand.." Fang said, defeated, "What happened to you..?"

"It's just something I have to do.." Lightning said softly, "You had a choice like this before too, remember?"

"I made it out alive." Fang said.

Lightning opened her mouth to speak, but she heard a voice over her shoulder.

_You no longer exist there._

Lightning went rigid. She looked over her shoulder to see Etro standing a ways away with her head slightly bowed. It appeared that she was giving them a moment of privacy. Lightning turned back to Fang slowly with a blank face.

"I'll make it back.." Lightning spoke lifelessly. She unhooked her chest plate and removed it, so she could properly hug Fang without the armor obstructing her full range of motion.

Fang leaned her head into Lightnings neck, inhaling deeply and taking in her scent. "I'll stop at nothing to get you back."

Lightning nodded, leaning up to kiss Fang and it was greedy. It was begging for more time.

When the kiss broke, they stared at each other intensely. Lightning took in every feature of Fang's face, memorizing it. The deep green eyes that were glazed over, the olive hue of her skin, the wildness of her raven hair and even the tiny little mole that stood out when she smiled...

Fang ran a hair into Lightnings hair, part of her believing this couldn't be happening. She'd heard of this place, and couldn't understand what Lightning could have done to receive a summons. If it were her, she would easily be making the same sacrifice for Lightning.

"I love you." Fang said.

"I'll always love you." Lightning answered, holding Fang tighter.

"Are you prepared?" Etro asked. Silently, she'd moved very close to them, they both jumped in surprise. Neither responded. Fang's expression just grew more longing.

Lightning just nodded without dropping her gaze, she took Fang's hands in her own.

"Carry on brave soul..." Etro said, raising her hand.

At once, Fang began fading into the mist. Her last expression being one of utmost devotion and love until the very last moment before she disappeared, it seemed her expression faltered, as if she had realized what was going on. Her hands became thin air between Lightning's fingertips, and Lightning's mouth fell open. It felt so final, she stood there staring at the space where Fang's eyes had been, her own eyes beginning to burn. Did she just make the biggest mistake of her life by letting Fang go?

"Fascinating.." Etro breathed delicately.

Lightning said nothing, her hair blowing in front of her eyes guarded from sight any tears that may have been spilling over. Her throat constricted, blocking any possibility of speech. She was beside herself with pain and felt empty almost immediately.

"So much pain you feel.." Etro took Lightnings hand and began walking. Lightning didn't even feel her legs moving. "Did you know it was your destiny to meet her from the very time you were born? I could have never anticipated you two would fall in love though.. So amazing how humans work. Do not be sad. Your fate, until this moment has been intertwined with her's, what makes you think it stops there?"

Lightning just followed without seeing, but knowing subconsciously they were inside the ruins now because of the rubble she had to climb over. Was Etro trying to comfort her? It seemed cold, after everything, to let Fang just go like that but somehow, deep down inside she knew it wouldn't be the last she saw of her. It only seemed logical, after everything they'd been through that this couldn't be _the end_. Her limbs felt numb at the very prospect.

"But you seem.. to understand why you are here.." Etro said, "Because.. you protected me from harm.."

Lightning just nodded.

Before she knew it they were walking into a large hall, with a large glowing ornate centerpiece lightning the room from its center.

"Why couldn't it be Fang.. here?" Lightning asked.

"I have other plans for Fang. I need you to protect _this_ place, as it was you that was chosen." Etro answered.

"But there's nothing here.." Lightning started. "The whole way here I didn't see a single living thing.."

"Looks can be deceiving." Etro said slowly, smiling at the confused look at Lightning's face. "You have much to learn."

Etro held out a pink stone taking the shape of a rose. "This belongs to you now, forever." She said softly.

"Odin.." Lightning breathed, taking it.

"This is your story. Just know, should you fail, Your home world could end up looking just like this dimension." Etro said softly.

Lightning looked away.. "But what am I supposed to do..?"

There was no answer, she turned around quickly to find herself alone. Frowning she walked to a balcony slowly, pulling her chest plate back on. She looked out over the fast ruined city, determined to learn everything there is to know about it. This wasn't a world she wanted Serah to raise her child in, and that was incentive enough. And then there was _her_...

"Fang.." Lightning breathed with a shaky voice. Was she on her way home now? Would she be telling Serah.. what would she tell her? How could she explain this? Lightning barely understood it herself but it was her job to figure it all out now.

"Remember, Lightning. Love conquers all." Etro's voice came to her out of thin air.

Narrowing her eyes, Lightning jumped over the balcony, landing at a run and throwing her Eidolith into the air, whipping out her gunblade quickly and aiming down its sight, unable to shake the image of Fang's face from her subconscious.

_In this realm, beyond time. My life, begins anew.._

**Bang!**

* * *

**Alright so, Here's an update. I took my best shot at deciphering/making this new information work for my story in particular. There _will be one more small chapter I'm adding to the end of this,_ then I will be wrapping it up. There WILL BE A SEQUEL, that will not be released until next year obviously. I don't plan on writing it until i beat xiii-2, and it will obviously have a much happier ending. So don't bitch too much about this ending on a sad note, I plan great things for the sequel. R&R I'm totally ready to deal with all of you bitching at me for this being sad :)  
**


	19. Inseparable

Extraordinary..

The circumstances under which these pictures lay in her lap. It hadn't even been Serah's first thought to grab them when they had returned to Cocoon but she felt so fortunate now that Lightning was looking ahead. As she flipped through them, Serah was certain that even Lightning could have foreseen _these_ particular circumstances but she welcomed the trip through memory lane.

It has been six months since she'd seen her sister's face in person but she didn't like to think about that. Wherever Lighting was, she had a good excuse for it. That's what Serah learned when she was very young and her sister would get held up at work. For now, she could see Lightning anytime she wanted in these pictures and it would remind her of a simpler life they once shared together.

In these pictures, there was no reflection of an apocalyptic world war in the smile Lightning wore. It was carefree and happy, they easily appeared closer than they were together in a long time. Lightning couldn't have been older than 14. The awkward teenager she once was, holding onto her little sister for a routine photo. Neither of them knew then that it wouldn't be long until pictures like this would never be the same.

As Serah flipped through the pictures, towards the more recent ones, she noticed the expression in Lightning's face slowly progressing into the deep brooding scowl that was more common as of recently. The distance between them in the pictures was actually measurable. Serah felt horrible for noticing now, only through pictures, that the death of their parents had effected Lightning so much. In that moment, she was too caught up with her own pain and it wasn't the way she knew her parents would have wanted them to handle it. Rather than putting on a brave face for each other, they were meant to help each other.

Serah bit her lip. She wondered if she had the chance to do this one portion of her life over again, would there have ever been a rift between her and her sister? When Snow started appearing in the photo's the rupture was even more evident. Lightning didn't appear in _those_ photos, though there was a few where she could be seen in the background. _ Alone.._

_Is this why.. she went away?_

Serah sighed heavily, placing the photos on an end table near the couch. She pulled the blanket up to her neck and closed her eyes. Is this what it felt like? Did Lightning really run out on her and her child with Fang..? Did she think Serah was ready to do that with Snow? Regret, Serah was learning, was easily one of the most painful emotions. It consumed her and there wasn't a think she could do about it.

She heard the door open behind her. She turned quickly and moved to her knees to peer over the couch while the rain was amplified from outside until Snow closed the door.

"Did you find anything?" She asked quickly.

Snow sighed. Rather than 'Hello', he'd been asked this question on a nightly basis. He shook his head stiffly as he took of his trench coat and hung it beside the door. Serah slumped against the couch again, turning her back on him.

"Serah.." Snow started slowly as he stood in front of her. His hands went to his head as he pulled the tight piece of fabric from his head. It dripped with water. "I.. people are talking. And.. I think it might be time to start believing.."

"No." Serah said without looking up.

Snow balled his bandana into his fist and knelt beside her. "No one has seen her in months.. There's a good chance that she's-"

"She's not dead!" Serah yelled fiercely. Her eyes pierced him, daring him to defy her word. He sighed again, standing upright.

"I'm going to bed, are you coming?"

"No.. I'm waiting for Vanille." She muttered, staring down at her hands in her lap.

"Fine." Snow breathed. She heard his labored footsteps start up the stairs. This situation was coming between them, she knew that, but it didn't make it any easier for her when he started saying things like that. Claire couldn't be dead. She was too strong for such things as dying, especially when she knew Serah still needed her.

When she heard the bedroom door close Serah got to her feet, crossing the living room into a new addition to their house. It was pitch dark in there. She walked very slowly through it to the window so as not to disturb any furniture. It seemed she got there just in time, because as she peered out a bolt of lightning illuminated the grounds. A small figure was scampering through the puddles and headed for the front door.

Serah quickly tiptoed back through the room and met her at the front door.

Vanille was soaking wet and shivering. Serah made a mental note to get this girl some winter clothes.

"Well?" She asked, opening the door wide enough for Vanille to come in.

"Nothing." Vanille whimpered, crossing the room to stand in front of the fire.

"They couldn't have just vanished.." Serah said softly, coming to stand by Vanille. Upon further inspection of Vanille's face she found her eyes to be puffy, red. She immediately pulled Vanille into a hug.

"Shhh.." Serah coaxed, but the action only made Vanille more emotional.

"Fang's gone." She cried softly.

"You know they're fine.." Serah said. She rubbed Vanille's damp back. Ever since this girl had come into her life it'd given her the opportunity to play the big sister for once. It seemed to fit her. "They're probably together, you know..?"

"I.. kept something from you, Serah.."

"What?" Serah asked, pulling away and staring down at the girl.

"T-they were branded. Both of them. And I went to see what happened to Atomos and its d-d-destroyed." Vanille sobbed.

More ominous news. Serah's face froze, her blue eyes were wide and unmoving. She had to physically break herself of the thoughts, knowing what the consequences of being a l'Ce were.

"I.. I'm sure they're fine, Vanille." Serah breathed. "That actually, kind of makes sense."

Serah walked up to a mirror on the other side of the room, rolling her sleeve up and peering once more at the new addition on her arm. A hollow brand she'd kept hidden from Snow..

"Has yours changed at all yet..?" Vanille asked, wiping her eyes as she walked to Serah.

"No.." Serah said.

"Mine either." Vanille said, gripping at her skirt. "I don't.. know if it works the same way.."

"It _is_ different.." Serah agreed. She tried, in her head, to piece everything together. Lightning's disappearance and the appearance of the brand. Another fal'Cie destroyed.. That's obviously what Lightning would have wanted, no more opportunities for peoples lives to be ruined.

"I'm gonna find them." Serah said after a long pause. She heard Vanille gasp behind her.

"Y_ou..?_ But..what about Snow, why can't we-"

"I think it has to be us.." Serah said, turning around. She met the smaller girl's unsure gaze. "Snow, wasn't branded again. I think it must have something to do with..."

The vision of her parents faces coming out of that robot hit Serah with full force and it all made sense. Every person involved, the two missing, and the two now branded were of the same descent. Still, not entirely sure what that actually meant, Serah knew it had to be her.

"Yes..." She finished, losing her place in her own sentence, "It's going to be me."

Vanille slumped a little looking defeated. Even though Serah's gaze was strong she couldn't seem to garner that much enthusiasm. Vanille didn't want to thing that this whole horrible nightmare was starting over again.

"So, you're staying here right? I don't want to sleep alone." Serah changed the subject.

Vanille frowned, noting that this would be the fourth day this week that Serah didn't sleep in her own bed.

"If I may.." Vanille said in a small voice.

"You're always welcome." Serah smiled at her, "I just need to check on her first."

"Okay.." Vanille said.

With another smile, Serah stopped by the counter to take a particularly happy picture of Lightning. She headed down the hall, turning on the hall light and entering the new room so just a crack of light illuminated her path. She made her way to the corner of the room where the crib stood. She leaned on the side of it and was quite surprised to see her child staring back up at her.

"What are you doing awake..?" She whispered softly. The baby girl smiled hugely up at the sight of her mother's face again. It melted Serah, she placed the picture of Lightning to hang in between the bars of the crib and in a delicate movement she picked her child up, rocking her gently in her arms. She hummed a random tune and the babies eyes started to fall. It was remarkable how big she already was. The doctor was shocked when she'd arrived with a small tuft of pink hair as a newborn. It made Serah smile that she'd taken most of _her_ features.

"I love you, Rime." Serah whispered.

In mid movement, however, Serah hesitated. She moved Rime to her shoulder, and pulled down gently on the back of her onesie. The thick black mark on the back of the infant's neck that matched her mother's was still unchanged, unseeing and hollow.

Concern flooded Serah's face.

_What does it mean..?_

Glancing out the window and up at the remains of Cocoon, she asked the question again, to her sister.

_Please.. Give me a sign.._

* * *

**Thanks for reading. The next time this story gets updated it will be to tell you all the new one is up. Early 2012 Final fantasy xiii-2 is expect at the moment, so until then... But between then and now I'm looking to put out another Flaire fic, much more lighthearted and cute :) R&R**


	20. NEW STORY: A Pretty Fake

**- Find my new story, a sequel to "Into the Blinding Light" here.**

**- **/s/10158036/1/A-Pretty-Fake


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